Before a single ball was kicked at El Sardinero, second-tier Real Racing Club de Santander provided a touch of sportsmanship, forming a pre-match guard of honor for freshly crowned Supercopa de España champions FC Barcelona. Yet once the whistle blew in this Copa del Rey round-of-16 tie, any pre-match deference vanished. What followed was a rigorous physical test, requiring Hansi Flick to balance squad rotation with tactical discipline to secure a 2-0 victory and advance into the quarter-finals.
Rotated Structure: Flick’s Tactical Deployment in Santander
Coming off their high-intensity campaign in Saudi Arabia, Flick opted for a calibrated squad rotation while preserving a strong core axis. Joan García retained his place between the posts, shielded by a backline featuring Jules Koundé at right-back, Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martín inside, and Alejandro Balde occupying the left flank. In midfield, Marc Casadó paired with Marc Bernal in a double pivot designed to manage rest defense, freeing Dani Olmo to operate in central attacking areas.
Up front, Marcus Rashford was deployed on the left wing, Lamine Yamal provided width on the right, and Ferran Torres wore the captain’s armband for the first time while leading the attack. While the setup maintained Barcelona's structural shape, the opening 45 minutes produced a subdued offensive rhythm. Santander’s aggressive pressing and compact midfield bank of Camara, Aldasoro, and Gueye severely restricted central passing lanes.
Barcelona’s best early chance arrived in the 10th minute when Rashford chipped a ball into the box for Olmo, whose volleyed effort failed to hit the target. Subsequent long-range efforts from Bernal and Rashford lacked the precision to disrupt Santander’s defensive block, sending both sides into the tunnel scoreless after an uninspired first half.
Bench Impact and the Tactical Opening
Barça returned for the second half with significantly elevated passing velocity and sharper off-the-ball movements. Rashford and Yamal quickly began isolating their full-backs, forcing Santander goalkeeper Jokin Ezkieta into multiple sharp saves. In the 65th minute, Yamal came agonizingly close to breaking the deadlock directly from a corner kick, sending an adventurous Olímpico curling onto the crossbar.
The decisive structural alteration arrived in the 58th minute when Flick replaced Bernal with Fermín López. Fermín’s directness between Santander's defensive lines immediately unlocked the tie in the 66th minute. Receiving the ball in half-space, Fermín slipped an incisive through-ball into the path of Ferran. The newly appointed captain rounded Ezkieta with composure and slid the ball into an open net to break Santander’s resistance.
Recognizing the need to consolidate control, Flick immediately executed a triple substitution in the 68th minute, introducing Pedri, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski for Olmo, Rashford, and Ferran.
| Team | Formation | Starting XI | Key Substitutes Used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Racing Santander | 4-3-3 / 4-5-1 | Ezkieta; Mantilla, Castro, Manu, M. García; Camara, Aldasoro, Gueye; Íñigo, Arana, Guliashvili | Lozano (46'), D. Rodríguez (60'), Sangalli (60'), Vicente (72'), A. Martín (77') |
| FC Barcelona | 4-2-3-1 | J. García; Koundé, Cubarsí, G. Martín, Balde; Casadó, Bernal; Yamal, Olmo, Rashford; Ferran (C) | Fermín (58'), Pedri (68'), Raphinha (68'), Lewandowski (68'), E. García (84') |
High-Line Risk and Stoppage-Time Transition
Despite trailing, Santander refused to retreat, pushing numbers forward and challenging Barcelona’s high defensive line. On two separate occasions, the hosts put the ball past Joan García, but both strikes were promptly ruled out for clear offsides as Barça’s backline held its coordination.
Ezkieta kept Santander in contention in the 79th minute with a double save, turning away Fermín’s low strike before recovering instantly to block Lewandowski’s rebound effort from point-blank range. As the match drifted into stoppage time, Santander engineered their best chance of the evening when substitute Lozano broke clear through the center on a direct counter. Joan García rushed off his line to produce a crucial one-on-one save, preserving Barcelona's narrow lead.
That save proved doubly decisive. Barcelona launched an immediate vertical counter-attack off the rebound, exploiting Santander’s exposed backline. Lamine Yamal collected the ball, drove into open space, and effortlessly rolled it into the uncontained net to round off a 2-0 victory and lock down Barça’s place in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.
Sources
These sources formed the evidence pack for this article. Links open the original publisher; inclusion does not imply endorsement.
- store.fcbarcelona.com original
- fcbarcelona.cz original
- eldiariomontanes.es original
- oneplay.cz original
