Barcelona booked their place in the Copa del Rey semi-finals with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Albacete Balompié at the Estadio Carlos Belmonte, extending their impressive run to 16 wins in their last 17 matches across all competitions.

After stunning Real Madrid in the previous round, Albacete approached the tie full of confidence and hoping to claim another major scalp. However, Barcelona quickly asserted their authority and nearly took the lead twice in the opening minutes through Marcus Rashford.

The hosts registered the first effort on target when Antonio Puertas tested the goalkeeper after Lamine Yamal was dispossessed, but Barcelona’s dominance was clear, holding 73% possession inside the opening quarter-hour.

With Albacete sitting deep and defending in numbers, the contest quickly developed into a familiar attack-versus-defence pattern. Despite controlling the ball, Barcelona found clear chances hard to come by as the home side remained disciplined.

The breakthrough eventually arrived shortly after the half-hour mark. Following a swift switch of play, Frenkie de Jong picked out Lamine Yamal, who struck a superb first-time left-footed finish to claim his 14th goal of the season.

Barcelona continued to apply pressure after the break and should have doubled their lead early on, only for Dani Olmo to see his effort deflected wide with the goal at his mercy. Their persistence was rewarded near the hour mark when Ronald Araújo, making his return to the starting lineup, powered home a header from a corner.

Albacete refused to surrender and injected fresh energy into the match through substitute Jefté Betancor, who nearly pulled one back moments after coming on. He later missed a clear headed opportunity and saw another effort ruled out as the hosts pushed for a response.

Their pressure finally paid off when Javi Moreno headed home brilliantly to reduce the deficit and set up a tense finale.

The closing stages were frantic, with Ferran Torres seeing a late tap-in disallowed for offside, while Fran Gámez had a goal-bound effort cleared off the line at the other end as Albacete threw everything forward in search of an equaliser.

Despite the late scare, Barcelona held firm to secure victory and extend their winning head-to-head streak against Albacete to seven matches, a run stretching back to November 1995.