Barcelona Crash Out Of Copa Del Rey After 4-2 Loss To Athletic Bilbao

Barcelona have been dumped out of the Spanish Copa Del Rey in the quarter finals following a 4-2 loss to Athletic Bilbao at San Mames.

Gorka Guruzeta gave the hosts an early lead in the first minute to stun Barcelona.

Robert Lewadoski brought Barcelona level in the 26th minute before young star, Lamine Yamal scored a stunning goal four minutes later to give Barcelona a 2-1 lead.

Oihan Sancet restored parity for Bilbao after the restart to make it 2-2.

Both sides struggled to find the winner as the tie went into extra time.

The hosts turned the game around in the first half of the extra time when Inaki Williams poked home.

Inaki Williams was on Nations Cup duty with Ghana few days ago before arriving in Spain yesterday morning.

Nico Williams sealed the victory with a close range finish in the closing moments of the game to hand Athletic Bilbao a place in the semi final of the competition.

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid are now out of the competition, but the defeat will mount pressure on Barcelona’s Xavi Hernandez following the club’s recent poor performances.

The Spaniard manager said he is proud of his players despite the 4-2 defeat.

Xavi said, “We tried. I think we competed well against a great team that is very strong at home. I already said after the draw that we hadn’t been lucky with the opponent. We can be proud that we’ve tried.

“We have to rebuild ourselves and compete in La Liga and the Champions League.”

Barcelona will be back in action in the Spanish La Liga on Saturday against Villarreal at home.