Barcelona eases into Copa del Rey quarterfinals with 5-1 rout of Real Betis

By Canadian Press on January 15, 2025.

Barcelona followed up its rout of Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Real Betis in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Gavi and Jules Koundé scored a goal each in the first half-hour and Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal added to the lead in the second half to give the Catalan club the win and a spot in the quarterfinals.

It was the fourth straight victory in 2025 for Barcelona, which on Sunday defeated Madrid 5-2 in Saudi Arabia to win the Spanish Super Cup.

Playmaker Dani Olmo, registered in the last minute after a long battle between Barcelona, the Spanish league and Spain’s federation because of a missed deadline by the club, helped set up Gavi’s opening goal in the third minute at Montjuic stadium. Yamal gave the pass for Koundé’s goal in the 27th.

Koundé thought he had added to the lead in first-half stoppage time but his effort was disallowed by video review because he was offside. Yamal also had one called back by the VAR because of offside early in the second half.

Barcelona’s third goal finally counted when Raphinha found the net in a breakaway in the 58th. Torres scored the fourth from inside the area in the 67th, a few minutes after coming off the bench, and Yamal sealed it after a nice run in the 75th.

Vitor Roque scored Betis’ lone goal by converting an 84th-minute penalty kick.

Also Wednesday, Atletico Madrid visits second-division club Elche looking to extend its record winning streak to 15 matches.

In other round-of-16 matches on Thursday, defending champion Athletic Bilbao hosts Osasuna and Real Madrid welcomes Celta Vigo.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press