Barcelona secured a late victory over Guadlajara Tuesday, advancing to the Round of 16 despite a 30-minute delay due to stadium entry issues . Goals from Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford in the final minutes sealed the 2-0 win, allowing manager Hansi Flick to utilize a squad including returning players and youth academy prospects . It marked goalkeeper marc-André ter Stegen’s return to action following a preseason back injury.
Barcelona advanced to the Round of 16 on Tuesday, securing a late 2-0 victory over Guadlajara. The Catalan club found the back of the net in the final quarter-hour through goals from Andreas Christensen and Marcus Rashford in the 76th and 90th minutes.
Barcelona joins Deportivo La Coruña, Elche, Real Sociedad and Valencia as teams to reach the next stage, having previously defeated Mallorca, Eibar, Eldense, and Sporting Gijón respectively.
The match was delayed by 30 minutes due to a security issue concerning fan access to the 8,000-capacity Pedro Escartín Stadium.
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick leveraged the significant technical advantage over their third-division opponents, giving playing time to a number of substitutes, youth players, and those returning from injury.
German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen made his season debut after recovering from a back injury that kept him sidelined during the preseason.
Flick had previously announced that ter Stegen, the Barcelona captain, would serve as the team’s third-choice goalkeeper behind new signing Joan García and Polish veteran Wojciech Szczęsny, who is returning from retirement in the summer of 2024.
Flick also started young players Marc Casadó, Marc Bernal, Jofre Torrent, and Roni Bardají.
Guadalajara nearly took an early lead, but ter Stegen was quick to deny Manu Ramírez in the 5th minute, and Canizares fired a shot just wide of the post in the 15th.
Guadalajara held firm against Barcelona and reached halftime with a clean sheet, thanks to an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Dani Vicente, who made several key saves against Eric García, Christensen, and Rashford.
Lamine Yamal, Bardají, and Fermín López also missed opportunities for the visitors, resulting in a scoreless first half.
Guadalajara’s goalkeeper continued to shine in the second half, making three more saves against Rashford and Bardají.
Ter Stegen was tested with dangerous shots from Daniel Gayardo and Toni Calvo before Christensen broke the deadlock with a header off a precise cross from Frenkie de Jong.
Shortly after Barcelona’s opening goal, ter Stegen denied Salifu Karapetchi with a strong save, before Rashford sealed the win in the 90th minute with a skillful dribble past the goalkeeper, capitalizing on a well-placed through ball from teammate Lamine Yamal.
