FC Barcelona advanced to the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) but suffered more than expected as it took 75 minutes to score against third-tier Club Deportivo Guadalajara, eventually winning 2-0.
It was Andreas Christensen the one who finally managed to break the wall, against a team that renounced ball possession (22%) for a tight and very effective defense, that nearly run the patience of Hansi Flick, who had to make changes and ended up using Pedri, Koundé and Balde to bring some clarity to the pitch. Marcus Rashford and Lamine Yamal were in the starting line-up, but not Lewandowski; Rashford scored the second goal.
Still, Guadalajara did find some chances in the last 15 minutes to draw, and Marc André Ter Stegen, in his first match after the injury, was put to work. Flick, however, said that Ter Stegen will not return to the goal, and Joan García will continue to be the starting goalkeeper for the "bigger" games in the future, so it could have been the last match of the German player with Barcelona.
Spanish Cup continues with Real Madrid and Atleti on Wednesday
Today, it will be time for Atlético de Madrid (against third tier Atlético Baleares, 19:00 CET) and Real Madrid (against third tier Talavera, 21:00 CET) to pass the Copa test: matches were they are clear favourites, against much lower ranked teams... which means that pressure is higher and failure is not tolerated.
Tuesday's games brought another surprise: a first-division team, Mallorca, was eliminated by Deportivo de la Coruña, playing in second division since 2018. The Galician club was not so long ago one of the strongest teams in Spain, winning Copa del Rey twice (last time in 2002, defeating Real Madrid at the Bernabéu) and winning LaLiga 1999/2000.