26/1/2023–|Last update: 1/26/202301:47 AM (Makkah Al-Mukarramah)
Barcelona qualified for the semi-finals of the King’s Cup, after defeating its guest Real Sociedad 1-0, on Wednesday, in the quarter-finals.
French star Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the match for Barcelona in the 52nd minute.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo pic.twitter.com/bD9HLKCquG
– FC Barcelona (@fcbarcelona_ara) January 25, 2023
The match witnessed the expulsion of Sociedad player Bryce Mendez in the 40th minute, due to a rough intervention against Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets.
Barcelona took advantage of the numerical shortage with the start of the second half, and Dembele scored the only goal of the match after he penetrated into the area on the right side, and hit a beautiful ball in the near narrow corner in the 52nd minute.
The Catalan club – the record holder in the number of competition titles (31), the last of which was in 2021 – tightened its control over the match without succeeding in doubling its progress.
German goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved Barcelona from resorting to extension, after he made a massive save in the third minute of stoppage time to substitute John-Andre Olassagaty’s shot.
Sociedad, who was missing playmaker David Silva and Mikel Merino, did not rise to the level that enabled him to finish third in the league this season and achieve a series of 7 consecutive victories in all competitions, before Barcelona ended it on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Real Madrid will meet its neighbor Atletico Madrid at the “Santiago Bernabeu” stadium, while Valencia will play with Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona remained on the right path towards its second title in the Xavi era, after finally winning the Spanish Super Cup at the expense of Real Madrid 3-1 in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, earlier this month.