After shocking Real Madrid in the previous round, Albacete came into today’s tie with high hopes of eliminating another giant of Spanish football, but barely touched the ball in the opening few minutes, by which time Barça had nearly gone ahead twice through Marcus Rashford.
Antonio Puertas then had the game’s first shot on target after Lamine Yamal had been dispossessed, though a 73% collective possession stat from the visitors after 15 minutes was a decent guide as to how the game was developing.
With the hosts putting 10 men behind the ball and only breaking upfield sporadically, there was already an ‘attack v defence’ feel to the match early on.
As a spectacle, there was little to write home about, as Barça continued to probe and look for any openings that were rarely forthcoming.
Carlos Neva’s injury saw him replaced by former Real Madrid man Jesús Vallejo just after the half hour, and the hosts were holding firm until a swift cross-field passing move saw Frenkie de Jong pick out Lamine, who smashed home a superb first-time left-footed effort for his 14th goal of the season in all competitions.
Somehow Dani Olmo could only find a defender’s heel with the entire goal to aim a couple of minutes into the second half, but consistent Barça pressure paid off when Ronald Araújo - on his return to the starting XI - powered home a header from a corner as the hour mark approached.
Just two minutes after coming on as a substitute for the hosts, Jefté Betancor almost pulled one back, raising the decibel levels inside the stadium in the process.
Betancor then missed a glorious header with 18 minutes to play, and also had a goal disallowed seven minutes from time as the home side pushed right to the end.
Their persistence paid off as Javi Moreno pulled a goal back from a wonderful diving header to set up a grandstand finish.
In the final minute, Ferran Torres’ simple tap-in was disallowed for offside and Fran Gámez had a chance cleared off the line at the other end as Albacete threw everything forward for the equaliser but ultimately fell short.
The result saw Barcelona extend their H2H winning streak - dating back to November 1995 - to seven games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)