On Wednesday, Barcelona had a difficult time moving on in its Copa del Rey debut, defeating Intercity 4-3 in extra time.
After Barcelona had lost three leads during the 3-3 regulation tie, Ansu Fati scored the game-winning goal for the Catalan club in the 104th minute.
In the city of Alicante, located in southeast Spain, Oriol Solde scored three goals to help the hosts.
Ronald Arajo scored in the fourth minute, Ousmane Dembélé in the 66th, and Raphinha in the 77th for Barcelona, which was playing without some of its normal starters. In minutes 59, 74, and 86, Solde netted the ball with a thump.
The game was played shortly after Robert Lewandowski, a Barcelona striker was removed from Sunday’s league game against Atlético Madrid after Spain’s administrative court for sports upheld a three-game suspension for him in the Spanish league. He was left off the roster for the Copa game against Intercity.
Following an appeal by Barcelona, the suspension was overturned by a court of disputes. The Espanyol team later challenged the outcome of the derby, claiming it was harmed by the unexpected decision by the Madrid court to temporarily lift the suspension, which allowed the Poland striker to participate in last weekend’s 1-1 league draw. Espanyol claimed this decision was to its detriment.
Due to their participation in the Spanish Super Cup, which will start next week, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Valencia, and Real Betis had not played before this round.
