Barcelona are through to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey after a 1-0 win against 10-man Real Sociedad at Camp Nou.
The hosts were unable to find the breakthrough in the first half despite dominating, but were handed an advantage when Brais Mendez was sent off in the 40th minute.
Ousmane Dembele gave the Blaugrana the lead early in the second half after being played through by Jules Kounde, finishing powerfully past Alex Remiro.
The contest between LaLiga’s first and third-placed teams was rarely as close as the scoreline suggested until a late push from Sociedad, and Xavi’s men march on looking to add another trophy to their recent Supercopa de Espana success.
Barca started brightly and had the ball in the net in the 11th minute, but Robert Lewandowski’s goal-bound strike deflected off the offside Frenkie de Jong on its way in.
The dangerous Dembele threatened shortly after when a determined run ended with a curled effort just wide of the left-hand post, while Takefusa Kubo struck the crossbar just before the half-hour with the visitors’ first attempt.
There were borderline ironic cheers before half-time from the home fans as referee Gil Manzano, who sent off Lewandowski earlier in the season, handed a red card to La Real’s Mendez when a VAR review showed the midfielder had caught Sergio Busquets on the ankle with his studs.
Dembele opened the scoring in the 52nd minute when he raced onto a pass down the right channel from Kounde, before firing his shot past Remiro at his near post.
La Real should have been level on the hour when Alexander Sorloth somehow turned Kubo’s cross over the bar from close range, while Gavi hit the woodwork at the other end.
One goal was enough to seal Barca’s passage to the final four, though, thanks to late Marc-Andre ter Stegen saves to keep out Roberto Navarro from a one-on-one and then Jon Ander Olasagasti’s powerful drive.
It seems strange to say about a team that had Lewandowski in it, but the one thing eluding Barcelona for much of the game was composure in the final third.
They had 20 shots overall, hitting the target six times, but seemed to struggle to break down their opponents more after gaining a man advantage.
It did not matter in the end as they claimed the win thanks to yet another clean sheet, though that was also reliant on Sorloth’s remarkable miss and Ter Stegen’s late saves.
It was another day when Dembele proved he can be a key player of this Barca side, building on his stellar season so far.
As well as scoring the winner, the France international produced three key passes, more than any other player, and put four open play crosses into the box.
