Barcelona‘s teenage forward Lamine Yamal was in inspired form, scoring once and making two assists, as they thrashed Real Betis 5-1 on Wednesday to book their spot in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Flying high after their 5-2 demolition of rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday, Barcelona didn’t even need their full arsenal to swat aside fellow LaLiga outfit Betis.
Coach Hansi Flick rested several starters such as Robert Lewandowski, Marc Casadó and Alejandro Balde.
They dominated proceedings from the start and it took three minutes for them to open the scoring with Gavi slotting in a low strike from Dani Olmo‘s assist.
Olmo almost extended Barca’s lead with a fine strike from inside the box that hit the post in the 20th minute, before Jules Koundé put them 2-0 up in the 27th, firing home a volley from close range after a stunning lobbed pass by Yamal.
After efforts from Kounde and Yamal were ruled out by the VAR for offside, Raphinha scored Barca’s third in the 58th minute, netting from a counter-attack started by Yamal.
Substitute Ferran Torres netted the fourth in the 67th minute with a strike from inside the box from an Olmo cross and Yamal scored the fifth from a quick counter-attack in the 75th.
The goal was first ruled out for an offside but the decision was quickly corrected by the VAR.
Brazilian forward Vitor Roque, who is on-loan from Barcelona, scored a consolation for Betis from the penalty spot in the 84th minute.
First appeared on www.espn.com