Barcelona's miserable season continued on Thursday after they lost 3-2 to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey last 16, despite Ferran Torres scoring his first goal for the club.
Disappointment of the extra-time defeat for Barca was compounded when Ansu Fati was forced off the pitch in tears after suffering another injury blow in the second half at San Mames.
Fati only returned earlier this month after two months out with a hamstring problem, having also come back in September following 10 months out with a knee injury.
Another spell on the sidelines for Fati would be a huge blow to Barca's hopes of making La Liga's top four. Pedri also limped off in extra-time.
Barcelona had defeated Bilbao 4-0 in last season's final, Lionel Messi scoring twice and lifting his final trophy for the club.
“This has been hard. But we have to keep working and move on,” Torres said. "We will overcome this bad streak. I think we played well but made individual mistakes. We are on the right track and we have to congratulate Athletic.
“We have to keep working and the results will come. The season is complicated, but we have players to get it through and we’ll get it through.
“We are recovering people who had been injured for a long time. Ansu has relapsed again. We have to keep working and the results will come.”
Only 102 seconds had gone when Iker Muniain sent San Mames wild by collecting Nico Williams' cross at the back post, before turning curling home into the far corner.
But Barcelona were level in the 20th minute as Torres - signed from Manchester City for an initial fee of around €55 million in December - scored in similar fashion, shifting inside Oscar De Marcos and bending a shot into the top corner.
Inaki Williams hit the bar with a long-range effort late on but the real drama was still to come. Athletic thought they had won it in the 86th minute when Inigo Martinez prodded in at the back post ahead of the sliding Gerard Pique, with the goal given after a VAR check for offside.
Barcelona, though, found a way back three minutes into injury time, as Dani Alves bicycle-kicked Jordi Alba's cross back into the area and Pedri's hit on the stretch was too powerful for Julen Agirrezabala in the Bilbao goal.
Barca celebrated like it was the winner but there was extra-time to come — and the injuries to Fati and Pedri.
Then in the 103rd minute, a sliding Alba stopped Nico Williams' cross with his right arm and after consulting the replay, Jose Munuera pointed to the spot. Ter Stegen dived right, Muniain shot left.
“They have beaten us on intensity,” said manager Xavi Hernandez. “We have to change the dynamic because when it's heads or tails we always get tails. You have to work and be brave.”
Xavi's side trail leaders Real Madrid in La liga by 17 points and were recently beaten in the Spanish Super Cup semi-finals by their arch rivals.
Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League at the group stage and have suffered the ignomy of dropping down to the Europa League — which is now their only realistic hope of silverware this season.
The club is also strangled by a mountain of debts that resulted in Barca legend Messi being forced to leave pre-season and join Paris Saint-Germain.
Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
- Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
- Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
- Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
- Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
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The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
The biog
DOB: 25/12/92
Marital status: Single
Education: Post-graduate diploma in UAE Diplomacy and External Affairs at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: I love fencing, I used to fence at the MK Fencing Academy but I want to start again. I also love reading and writing
Lifelong goal: My dream is to be a state minister
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
if you go
The flights
Emirates fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas, where United have direct flights to Managua. Alternatively, from October, Iberia will offer connections from Madrid, which can be reached by both Etihad from Abu Dhabi and Emirates from Dubai.
The trip
Geodyssey’s (Geodyssey.co.uk) 15-night Nicaragua Odyssey visits the colonial cities of Leon and Granada, lively country villages, the lake island of Ometepe and a stunning array of landscapes, with wildlife, history, creative crafts and more. From Dh18,500 per person, based on two sharing, including transfers and tours but excluding international flights. For more information, visit visitnicaragua.us.
BRAZIL%20SQUAD
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THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
