Barcelona are one round further in the Copa del Rey, but Barcelona beating Intercity was a lot harder than might be expected in such a first stop in the tournament. The Spanish press decided on Thursday morning to wallow in laughter about the stuffy evening of Xavi’s team.
Marca kicks off, “Barca are a drama, they live on the edge all the time. Whether Espanyol or Intercity, this Barça decides no matches. They were much better than Intercity, but they don’t score when they should. And then the opponent will believe in it. After a nice first half, a sad second half followed in which Intercity scored three times against a defense that kept leaking.”
“We are talking about Intercity, not Internazionale,” sneered El Mundo Deportivo. “With seventeen World Cup visitors you cannot give away three such goals. The crazy thing is that Xavi’s team didn’t even play badly. They had fun, and the most important thing was the return of Ronald Araujo. If he hadn’t been substituted, you get the feeling they wouldn’t have conceded two more goals.”
“Barca are through, but it is worrying,” writes Sport. “Barca started well, but it went crazy. Only in extra time, when the home side was very tired, did Barça take control of the ball and the game and Ansu Fati scored the all-important winning goal.”
Soldevila
Soldevila has a past at Barcelona. Between 2018 and 2020, the attacking midfielder played in the youth academy of the Blaugrana, and three years later he gave his former employer a very stuffy evening with three equalizers. Afterwards he appeared for Spanish television.
“I’ve been a Culé (Barcelona supporter) since I was born. This is a dream. Scoring once was already nice, and the second and the third? I couldn’t even believe that. I am also very happy with what the team has shown. Did I exchange another shirt? I asked that of Raphinha, but now I will ask Arnau Tenas (the third goalkeeper). He’s my best friend. We were perfect today and can continue with our heads held high,” said Soldevila.
