Spain: Barcelona survive Copa del Rey scare

-

Linares Deportivo 1 - 2 Barcelona: Copa Del Rey

Barcelona survived a scare against lower league Linares as Dani Alves eventually marked his first Barca appearance in more than five years with a win. 

Barca survive scare in Copa Del Rey

Alves made his long-awaited second debut, having had to wait for the registration window to open following his signing a few months ago.

La Liga news: Barcelona re-sign Dani Alves 

The Spanish minnows took a shock half-time lead through a goal Hugo Diaz.

It wasn't the best performance from Barcelona but goals from Ousmane Dembele and Ferran Jutgla spared them the shock and embarrassment of an exit in the early stages of the competition. 

They started with a second-string line-up against a side 14th in the Primera Division Group 2, but boss Xavi had to make changes at the break. He brought on Dembele, Gerard Pique and Frenkie de Jong, to help turn the tie around.

Reaction 

This is how Xavi responded to the win.

One Barcelona fan told us: "We didn't play that well but it was good to get the win. We are not going to win the league so it would be good to have a run in the competition and win it. We need some success after a horrible few years. We are still suffering from the loss of Lionel Messi."

 Highlights

Return of a legend

Right-back Alves left the Nou Camp in 2016, having won six La Liga titles and the Champions League on three occasions. 

He is one of the most decorated footballers of all time. Outside of his time with Barcelona, he also won league titles with Juventus and Paris St-Germain. 

Popular posts from this blog

EFL: Ipswich promoted to Premier League

-
Image
Ipswich Town 2 - 0 Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town soared back into the Premier League by cruising to a win over Huddersfield at Portman Road. Wes Burns gave the home side a first-half lead. This was then doubled by Omari Hutchinson early in the second with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. Click here to discover more news from the English Football League. Ipswich have finished the Championship season on 96 points. This is just one less than champions Leicester. They have become the first team since Southampton in 2011-12 to go from League One to the Premier League in successive seasons.  McKenna is also only the fifth manager in the club's history to win promotion to the top flight. This follows Alf Ramsey - later Sir Alf - in 1961, Bill McGarry in 1968, John Lyall in 1992 and George Burley in 2000. He is certainly is some great company there. From a Huddersfield perspective, the result also confirmed that they will be playing in League One next season. They were a Pre
Read more

FA Cup: United win on penalties

-
Image
 Manchester United 3 - 3 Coventry City Manchester United won 4-2 on penalties  United somehow progressed to the FA Cup final for the second successive season, following a dramatic semi-final victory over Coventry City. The Reds edged past the Sky Blues on penalties after a crazy and eventful 120 minutes to set up a rematch of last year's final, against Manchester City. Following goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes, United appeared to be in total and complete control. Despite having a few chances, it did look like this was one match too far for Coventry. However, goals Ellis Simms and O'Hare reduced the deficit and made things very nervy for Ten Hag's side. Then in stoppage time, Haji Wright kept his nerve in stoppage time to score from the spot and send the game into extra time. Many Manchester United fans were furious at this point.  Disgraceful performance from #mufc https://t.co/sibOvrXJB0 pic.twitter.com/dPV06sMrkJ — Jay Dee (@JDESFNews)
Read more

Premier League: Another strange performance from Manchester United

-
Image
Manchester United 1 - 1 Burnley Zeki Amdouni scored a late penalty to grab what could he a priceless point for relegation-threatened Burnley in the Premier League at Old Trafford. Despite another unconvincing display from Manchester United, they did look well set for victory thanks to Antony's well-taken 79th-minute effort. Then Burnley got a penalty  Although the referee John Brooks managed to miss the foul in real time, unlike against Wolves the video assistant referee, Peter Bankes, stepped in. Substitute Amdouni managed to send the keeper the wrong way and earn Burnley this point  This result moved Burnley to within two points of fourth-bottom Nottingham Forest, whom they play at Turf Moor on the final day of the season.  There could still be a dramatic fight for survival with Burnley, Luton and Forest all scrambling to avoid relegation to the Championship.  You can watch the highlights of the match in the video below. The footage from YouTube is from the official Burnley
Read more