Granada 3-5 Barcelona: Late drama as Barca win eight-goal thriller to reach Copa del Rey semi-finals
Barcelona survived a huge scare to reach the Copa del Rey semi-finals with dramatic 5-3 extra-time victory at Granada.
Granada were 2-0 up with two minutes of normal time remaining thanks to goals in each half from Kenedy and former Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado, but Antoine Griezmann inspired Barca’s thrilling late fightback.
The Frenchman reduced the arrears on 88 minutes before setting up Jordi Alba’s stoppage-time equaliser as the 30-time winners forced extra-time.
Griezmann then gave Barca the lead in the tie for the first time in the 100th minute but Granada fought back to level swiftly through Fede Vico.
But as penalties loomed, Frenkie de Jong restored Barca’s lead before Alba added a stunning second – volleying in another Griezmann assist – to send Ronald Koeman’s side into the last four.
How Barca mounted glorious, late Granada fightback
Koeman has spoken of the importance of winning the Copa del Rey this season as his side’s chances of catching La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid keep fading, and he backed up his words by naming a strong line-up.
He fielded Lionel Messi, Griezmann and De Jong from the start and even picked Marc-Andre ter Stegen over usual Copa del Rey keeper Neto, although it counted for little as clinical Granada pounced on two Barca mistakes to take the lead.
Defender Samuel Umtiti lost possession on the left-hand side of his area and Alberto Soro quickly delivered a ball into the box which Brazilian midfielder Kenedy knocked past Ter Stegen from close range.
Veteran striker Soldado then latched on to a long ball from Angel Montoro, who had dispossessed Griezmann, easily beating Umtiti for pace before confidently slotting into the net.
The Frenchman made amends with his late goal which gave Barca a lifeline while Messi smacked the post moments later, the third time Barca had hit the woodwork, before Alba’s headed equaliser.
Granada had one final chance to snatch a winner in the dying seconds of normal time when Colombian forward Luis Suarez raced clear but arrowed his shot inches wide of the far post.
Barca showed their class in the extra period as Granada’s legs gave in, giving the Catalans another shot at Copa del Rey glory.
Koeman relishes eight-goal thriller
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman: „Football is incredible. We had chances to win the game far sooner, but we put in an enormous effort, at the end of the second half and in extra-time, showing the mentality of a real team.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
.
