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Copa Win Sees Barcelona Equal Their Second-Longest Winning Streak

Barcelona breezed past Racing Santander in the Copa del Rey Round of 16 to equal the second-best winning streak in club history. 

Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal scored one goal each to seal a 2-0 victory for the Blaugrana.

Barcelona join Valencia Athletic Club, Atletico Madrid, Deportivo Alaves, Real Betis, Real Sociedad and Albacete for Monday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final draw.

Barcelona Secure Clinical Win Over Racing Santander

After seeing Real Madrid suffer an embarrassing defeat to Albacete on Wednesday, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick fielded a strong XI against Racing. Ronald Araujo did not feature, even as a substitute, further suggesting that Araujo is not in Flick’s Barcelona plans.

However, despite having the likes of Yamal, Torres, Dani Olmo, and Marcus Rashford on the field, Barca could not trouble the hosts in the first half.

They had just one effort on target, generating an xG of 0.26. Racing, meanwhile, had two shots on target for a cumulative xG of 0.24.

Barca upped the ante in the second half and scored the first goal through Torres in the 66th minute. He latched onto Fermin Lopez’s through ball, rounded the goalkeeper, and sent the ball into the empty net.

The Blaugrana came close to adding to their advantage in the 79th minute, but the Racing goalkeeper produced an excellent double save to deny Lopez and Robert Lewandowski.

The insurance goal finally arrived in the fifth minute of injury time. Raphinha won the ball at the edge of the area and squared it to Yamal, who found the bottom-right corner with a clinical strike.

Barcelona Equal Second-Longest Winning Streak With Copa Win

The victory over Racing not only secured Barcelona’s passage into the Copa del Rey quarter-finals but also took their winning streak to 11 games.

This has equalled the second-longest winning streak in the club’s history. They previously recorded 11 consecutive victories in 1956, 1927, 2008, and 2015.

Flick’s men have not lost since the 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League in the final week of November. In their last match, Barcelona recorded a historic win over Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana final.

Barcelona’s longest-ever winning streak in all competitions came under Frank Rijkaard between 2015 and 2015. They won 18 games under the Dutchman.

Considering their current form, they must fancy themselves capable of bettering that record. To surpass Rijkaard, Flick must take Barca to wins over Real Sociedad (A), Slavia Prague (A), Real Oviedo (H), FC Copenhagen (H), Elche (A), Mallorca (H), Girona (A), and Levante (H).

Elche, currently ninth in the LaLiga table, are their only opponent sitting in the top half of the rankings.

Related TopicsBarcelona Copa del Rey La Liga

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