Rain of goals, Barca enters King's Cup semi-finals

The Catalan team beat arch-rivals Sociedad 5-2 in the second leg of the quarter-finals, and advanced 6-2 on aggregate.

Second leg goals: Denis Suarez 17', 82', Messi 55' penalty, Luis Suarez 63', Arda Turan 80' - Juanmi 62', William Jose 73'

Messi was the standout player in the second leg at the Nou Camp. The "conductor" wearing the number 10 shirt scored directly from the 11m mark in the 55th minute, while also igniting and assisting all four remaining goals of Barca.

Young midfielder Denis Suarez also played very successfully in the match on the evening of January 26. In the 17th minute, when receiving a pass from a combination between Messi and Luis Suarez, this player showed his increasingly improved finishing technique with a diagonal shot to open the score of the match. In the situation in the 82nd minute, after getting down from Messi's through ball, Denis shined even more by dribbling past goalkeeper Rulli and scoring a double.

Messi and his teammates have overcome the psychological fear of Sociedad. Photo: Reuters

Compared to the first leg last week (Barca won 1-0), the second leg had more goals but was no less tense. From the 40th to the 54th minute, the referee had to show six yellow cards, divided equally between both teams. Neymar and Luis Suarez were both on the card list.

Sociedad only showed signs of discouragement after Barca doubled the gap in the 55th minute. In this situation, Messi kicked a penalty so dangerously that goalkeeper Rulli guessed the right direction but could not touch the ball.

After his sixth goal since the beginning of 2017, M10 returned to his increasingly excellent assist role. Alongside Denis Suarez, the captain also set up Luis Suarez and sparked Turan's goal.

The Suarez duo scored three goals together for Barca.

Meanwhile, Barca's defense appeared somewhat complacent in the middle of the second half. The central defenders Pique and Umtiti made mistakes in marking, while goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen lacked decisiveness in entering and exiting. As a result, Sociedad got two goals from Juanmi's flick and William Jose's header.

With a final score of 6-2, Barca had the biggest win in the quarter-finals. The Cup holders will join Atletico Madrid, Alaves and Celta Vigo in the semi-finals.

According to VNE