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Barcelona survive Ibiza scare as Antoine Griezmann brace earns 2-1 Copa del Rey comeback winBy Evening Standard

Antoine Griezmann hit a late winner to break Ibiza hearts and send Barcelona into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday evening.

The French forward saved Barca’s blushes as he hit the equaliser with 18 minutes left, the former Atletico attacker latching on to a clever pass by Frenkie de Jong and sliding a low shot past Ibiza goalkeeper German.

Barca, despite their high possession, struggled on the artificial pitch with Lionel Messi left at home and had their first shot on target of the entire evening just four minutes before that, when Ivan Rakitic saw a drive comfortably saved by German.

But after the leveller, it was an onslaught from Quique Setien’s side.

Ansu Fati, who had started as a wing-back, was much more effective when moved forward and the 17-year-old was unfortunate not to win a penalty as he was bundled over right at the end.

But Barca continued to attack through six minutes of added time and Griezmann hit the winner as he raced onto a ball down the left and clipped a fine finish past German from an angle to make it 2-1.

That saw the Catalans overcome a difficult test, which had seen them fall behind after just nine minutes when Javi Perez took advantage of some hesitation from Riqui Puig to beat Neto from just inside the area, his shot taking a deflection on its way in.

Angel Rodado later saw a second ruled out following a foul on Clement Lenglet, the only centre-back in Setien’s experimental line-up.

But a change of formation and a late surge saw last season’s Copa finalists advance to the next round as Ibiza bowed out with their heads held high in front of their fans at Can Misses.

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