Barcelona needed extra time to see off third-tier Intercity in the Copa del Rey, where Oriol Soldevila was the star of the show.
Ansu Fati scored an extra-time winner as Barcelona scraped past third-tier Intercity 4-3 in the Copa del Rey after Oriol Soldevila’s hat-trick.
The tense tie saw the Blaugrana repeatedly frustrated by the minnows after Ronald Araujo’s early effort suggested a comfortable evening for the 31-time winners.
That certainly wasn’t the case, Soldevil’s equalizing hat-trick sent the tie into extra time after Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha restored Barcelona’s lead.
But Soldevila and Intercity were unable to repeat the feat for a fourth time after Fati struck decisively in the 103rd minute.
A quick start for Xavi’s side saw Araujo head home Pablo Torre’s corner with just four minutes left, but the defender soon had to clear the line at the other end and Intercity improved further after half-time.
A deserved equalizer followed just before the hour when Vadik Murria nodded in a corner for Soldevila to fire past a helpless Inaki Pena.
The scores were level just seven minutes in when Dembele latched on to Gavi’s pass to beat Gaizka Campos, but Intercity fought back again and Soldevila faced no challenge from Jordi Alba as he headed in his second.
Alba redeemed himself with an assist for Raphinha at the other end, but the winger was brilliantly denied by Campos as Soldevila broke in from the ensuing corner to sensationally force extra-time.
A fortuitous fourth in Barcelona would do, however, as Fati’s deflected effort fooled Campos to send the visitors into the last 16.