With Philippe Coutinho making his debut on Thursday, while Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez added to their scoring streaks, Barcelona advanced to the Copa del Rey semi-finals for the eighth straight season.
First-half goals from Messi and Suarez guided Barcelona to a comfortable 2-0 victory over city rivals RCD Espanyol at the Camp Nou, keeping alive their hopes of winning a fourth consecutive Copa del Rey title.
The other teams in the semi-finals are Sevilla, Valencia and CD Leganes, who on Wednesday stunned Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Photo: AFP
Valencia got past last year’s runner-up Deportivo Alaves on penalties, while Sevilla eliminated Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona had lost 1-0 to Espanyol in the first leg last week, but quickly evened the series when Suarez scored with a diving header less than 10 minutes into the match after a cross from the right by Aleix Vidal.
Messi scored the goal that secured a 2-1 win on aggregate midway through the first half with a shot that deflected off a defender.
Messi and Suarez have combined to score at least a goal each in six of Barca’s past seven matches.
Messi has found the net 10 times in his past 11 games, while Suarez has scored 11 goals in his past nine.
“I liked how we were able to control the game in the final minutes,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said. “We didn’t want to risk conceding like we did in the first leg.”
It was a good debut for Coutinho, who came off the bench in the second half to replace Andres Iniesta, playing well in the nearly 25 minutes he was on the pitch.
“There are a lot of expectations about Coutinho,” Valverde said. “He will fit well into our game. He entered in a complicated match, but he did well.”
Coutinho arrived from Liverpool earlier this month, but had been sidelined by a muscle injury.
The Brazilian playmaker was signed in a transfer worth up to 160 million euros (US$199 million), making him Barcelona’s most expensive player ever.
Espanyol, seeking their first semi-final appearance in the Copa del Rey since 2014-2015, appealed for a penalty when Gerard Moreno fell inside the area after contact with Barcelona’s Jordi Alba with about 10 minutes left in the game.
“We had some chances, but didn’t capitalize on them,” Espanyol’s Victor Sanchez said.
“We feel like we played a great tie. Nobody really believed in us, but in the end we were a goal away from advancing,” Sanchez added.
Argentina international Javier Mascherano was honored by Barcelona before the match.
The defender is leaving the club after eight seasons to play in China.
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