{"id":36,"date":"2026-03-29T16:31:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/?p=36"},"modified":"2026-03-29T16:31:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T16:31:17","slug":"barcelona-guadalajara-copa-del-rey-late-double","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/barcelona-guadalajara-copa-del-rey-late-double\/","title":{"rendered":"Barcelona Survive Copa del Rey Scare With Late Double vs Guadalajara"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Barcelona avoided a major Copa del Rey upset on Tuesday night, scoring twice late to defeat third-tier Guadalajara 2-0<\/strong> and secure a place in the last 16<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Pedro Escart\u00edn Stadium<\/strong>, the Catalans dominated possession\u2014over 80%<\/strong>\u2014but spent most of the match searching for a way through a disciplined Guadalajara side that defended with a compact five-man back line. The hosts remained brave and dangerous on the counter, frustrating Barcelona for long stretches and keeping the tie alive deep into the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Barcelona<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

With the game still locked, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick<\/strong> looked to change the rhythm by introducing regular starters from the bench, including Pau Cubars\u00ed, Alejandro Balde, Jules Kound\u00e9, and Pedri<\/strong>. The added intensity and sharper movement finally tilted the match in Barcelona\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christensen breaks the deadlock<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The breakthrough arrived in the 77th minute<\/strong>. Frenkie de Jong<\/strong> delivered an inviting cross from the right and Andreas Christensen<\/strong> rose highest to meet it. His header took a slight deflection off Julio Mart\u00ednez<\/strong> before dropping into the net to give Barcelona the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ter Stegen delivers on his return<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Guadalajara nearly responded immediately when Salifo Caropitche<\/strong> fired a powerful long-range effort, but Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andr\u00e9 ter Stegen<\/strong>\u2014playing his first match since May\u2014produced a sharp reaction save to tip the shot over the bar and preserve the advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rashford finishes it late<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Guadalajara\u2019s hopes were ended in the closing moments when Lamine Yamal<\/strong> slipped a perfectly weighted through-ball into Marcus Rashford\u2019s<\/strong> run. The forward stayed calm, shifted the goalkeeper with a quick cut inside, and rolled the ball into the empty net to seal the win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are tricky matches; they come out with everything they\u2019ve got and we have to do the same,\u201d Cubars\u00ed said after the game. \u201cIn the second half, we picked up the pace and moved them from side to side to tire them out. As the minutes passed, they grew tired, and that was the key point. They played spectacularly well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Barcelona avoided a major Copa del Rey upset on Tuesday night, scoring twice late to defeat third-tier Guadalajara 2-0 and secure a place in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36\/revisions\/37"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspredictions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}