Goals from Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Ronald Araujo ended the second division team’s fairytale run in the Spanish Cup.
Published February 4, 2026
Barcelona ended Albacete’s giant killing in the Copa del Rey, winning 2-1 away on Tuesday to become the first team to qualify for the semi-finals, after surviving a late comeback from the second division side.
Lamine Yamal opened the scoring in the 39th minute, and captain Ronald Araujo scored from a second-half corner as Barcelona stayed on course to defend the trophy they won last year.
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Albacete pulled one back with a goal from Javier Moreno in the 87th minute, and then broke through Barça’s line in second-half stoppage time for another high-profile late goal.
Albacete, who are in 12th place in Spain’s second division, had upset Celta Vigo and Real Madrid in the previous round, but were put on the back foot in the quarter-finals when Marcus Rashford stole the ball and passed it to Frenkie de Jong, who set up Yamal for a powerful finish with his left foot.
Rashford squandered an early chance and Yamal broke the deadlock after Dani Olmo deflected a volley into the corner.
Albacete had two quick chances to equalize before the end of the first half, but centre-forward Antonio Puertas was unable to capitalize on either chance.
Olmo fired home from close range on Rashford’s run in the 47th minute before having another shot blocked, but Barca added nine minutes later when Araujo headed home his first start since taking mental health leave in December.
Journeyman attacker Jehute Betancor, who scored twice for Albacete against Real last month, could have gotten his team back into contention, but he failed to make an immediate impact off the bench as he had a shot wide in the 63rd minute and a free header 10 minutes later.
But Moreno closed the gap with a diving free-kick header in a frenzied finale, before Ferran Torres pushed the ball home in the 89th minute for what looked like Barca’s third goal, but was ruled offside.
Albacete then laid siege to the La Liga leaders, with Gerard Martin forced into a dramatic clearance off the line.
Real Sociedad, who host Deportivo Alaves, and Valencia will host Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Atletico Madrid will visit Real Betis on Thursday.
In last year’s final in Seville, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 3-2 in extra time to win the cup.
