UD Ibiza 1-2 Barcelona: Report, Ratings & Reaction as Woeful Barça Net Late to Break Host’s Hearts

A dreadful Barcelona side narrowly avoided one of their biggest ever shocks as Antoine Griezmann’s strike deep into injury time handed the visitors a 2-1 win over UD Ibiza, in turn breaking the host’s hearts and knocking them out of the Copa del Rey.

In stunning fashion the Spanish found themselves in front. Ángel Rodado won a free kick on the halfway line to relieve pressure, sending the ball out wide to Rai Nascimento, who fed Javi Perez to sidefoot an effort that went beyond Neto via teammate Josep Caballe Martin.

UD Ibiza v FC Barcelona - Copa del Rey: Round of 32

?Ibiza came within inches of doubling their lead before the break, with Nascimento sitting Frenkie de Jong down in the box but unable to add the finishing touch and crashing his effort off the far post.

Creating absolutely nothing for 72 minutes, just ??Barça‘s second effort on target got the hugely-favoured visitors their opening goal. A neat threaded pass from ?Ivan Rakitic fed Antoine Griezmann, who slotted beyond Germán Parreño.

Thoroughly undeserved, Griezmann would have the final say as he raced through on goal before finishing low beyond Germán and sending Barcelona through to the last 16 of the Copa del Rey.

?IBIZA

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Player Ratings

Starting XI: Germán (9); Kike (9), Gonzalo (9), Gomez (8), Aguilera (9); Mateo (8), Nunez (8), Lara (8); Caballe (9), Jareno (7), Nascimento de Oliveira (9)

Substitutes: Mendoza (7), Sibo (8), Carbia (8)

BARCELONA

Key Talking Point

Quique Setien

Awful, atrocious, limp, lifeless, uninterested, dire, dismal, woeful…..etc etc. Use whatever adjective you wish, what Barcelona put out on the island of Ibiza was more like a wretched hangover than a beach party in the blazing sun. 

But at the Estadio Municipal de Can Misses, when this particular island pops up in conversation, your immediate thought should be UD Ibiza, not whatever came into your head first. In the third tier of Spanish football, a dogged, determined and resolute outfit reside, and they just made one of world football’s best sides look immensely average.

The likes of Nelson Semedo, De Jong and Perez were mere passengers, but you could have chosen any other three players and said the same. Dominating possession, there was nothing to show for it until the 72nd minute. Ibiza more than held their own, with any single player in the side showing more fight than the entire Barça team combined.

Yet, somehow the Catalan giants managed to pull it out of the bag in the dying embers as extra time loomed large, condemning the hosts to an exit from the competition they fought so valiantly in.

Sure, Barça won, but did they deserve it? No. Were they in any way shape or form good on the night? No. Will they care?… No.

Player Ratings

Starting XI: Neto (3); Roberto (2); Lenglet (2), Firpo (2); De Jong (2), Semedo (2), Fati (4), Rakitic (3), Puig (3); Perez (1), Griezmann (4)

Substitutes: Alba (3), Arthur (2), Vidal (2)

Ansu Fati

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Nobody was good for Barcelona. Not one player.

Which means the only conceivable thing to do is to choose the least bad player. That is Ansu Fati, who at least tried to make things happen for the visitors, although he was so often halted in his tracks by some magnificent Ibiza defending. 

Playing against a third division side with a host of big names in your lineup, it shouldn’t be that the player who showed the most fight is a 17-year-old. He was very wasteful in front of goal, but at least he tried.

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Looking Ahead

Ibiza are back in Segunda Division B action as they host SS Reyes on Sunday, while Barcelona travel to Valencia for Saturday’s La Liga clash

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