Barcelona Defeats Racing 0-2 to Advance to Quarter-finals

FC Barcelona took a long time to break the deadlock, but in the 65th minute, following a previous shot by Racing's Suleiman, the Blaugrana were finally able to launch a counterattack for the first time in the match. Fermín delivered an excellent pass into space for Ferrán Torres, who remained calm in a one-on-one against Ezkieta, dribbled past him, and scored with ease. Barcelona's first shot on goal came in the 43rd minute, following a collective Blaugrana move that ended with a Marcus Rashford shot from inside the area, which Ezkieta managed to save with the help of Javi Castro. Barcelona defeated Real Racing Club 0-2, with a goal from Ferrán Torres and another from Lamine Yamal, in a match where Hansi Flick had to deploy his entire arsenal to secure the win. The match began, after a ceremonial guard of honor from Racing to Barcelona for their victory in the Spanish Super Cup, with three corners in favor of the home side, though the Culé defense managed to clear the third without much trouble. José Alberto's team had a clear opportunity to equalize in stoppage time, with a two-on-one situation involving Manex Lozano and Andrés Martín against Joan García, but the forward, on loan from Athletic Club, decided to take a chance and failed to score. Racing managed to equalize twice, but on both occasions, first Manex Lozano, who scored both goals, and later Íñigo Vicente were in offside positions. Racing grew after the Blaugrana goal and began to link up more passes in the final third, while Barcelona also seemed comfortable playing on the counterattack. With twelve minutes to go, following a good pass from Lamine Yamal, Fermín and then the newly introduced Lewandowski could have sealed the game, but Ezkieta prevented it with two saves. Three minutes into the second half, again Marcus Rashford, after a Racing defensive error, had a chance to make it 0-1 in a one-on-one against the Real Racing Club's Navarrian goalkeeper, who cleared it well to a corner. In the following play, Lamine Yamal, on a pass from Raphinha, sealed the game with the definitive 0-2 that confirmed Barcelona's passage to the quarter-finals. From that point on, Barça took control of the match, conducting very long spells of possession, although without generating too much danger in the 'verdiblanco' goal. Meanwhile, Racing, which was well-positioned defensively, sought to create goal-scoring opportunities through rapid transitions. Little else of note happened until the break.