Barcelona made its first appearance in the Copa Del Rey after the hiatus for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
On January 4, 2023, Barcelona defeated InterCity 4-3 in overtime at the Estadio Antonio Solana in Alicante.
Barcelona took the lead in the round of 32 match after just four minutes when Ronald Araujo converted a corner kick by Pablo Torre.
Barcelona continued to press Inter City after the halftime break after taking the lead.
Oriol Soldevilla Puig took advantage of a mistake to score the equalizer for the third-division team in the 59th minute.
InterCity equalized in the 74th minute thanks to another goal from Soldevilla Puig. Three minutes later, Raphinha scored on a Jordi Alba cross to give Barcelona the lead once more.
Soldevilla Puig scored his third goal of the game in the 86th minute to force extra time as Barcelona tried to hold on for the victory.
Barcelona won and advanced to the next round thanks to a goal by Ansu Fati in extra time.
Barcelona climbed to the top of the social media trends after the triumph.
Ansu Fati, who came off the bench to score the game-winning goal, received a lot of appreciation from the Barcelona faithful.
Prior to being removed from the game, Ferran Torres received feedback for his performance. Following his statements to the media, head coach Xavi shot to the top of the trends.
He stated: “We play a solid game. The first 15 to 30 minutes were excellent against Espanyol.
“Intercity is a side from a lesser level, so we had to dominate the game. We achieved that, but we suffered too much; we need to end games sooner, just like against Espanyol.
Although I’m happy with the outcome, we weren’t very effective. To win games, we must increase our effectiveness on offense and defense.
“We are familiar with the Cup, the competitors are highly driven, everything is expensive, and we have made the game challenging for ourselves.
We have been playing well but we are still lacking effectiveness. In general terms, I’m satisfied."
Barcelona returns to action away against Atletico Madrid in a La Liga fixture scheduled for Sunday, January 8, 2023.
