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Griezmann Denies Ibiza Famous Upset of Barcelona in Copa Del Rey

Barcelona was dealt an early blow in the teams' round-of-32 matchup on Wednesday but recovered thanks to the French striker.

Avi Creditor

Griezmann Denies Ibiza Famous Upset of Barcelona in Copa Del Rey
Griezmann Denies Ibiza Famous Upset of Barcelona in Copa Del Rey /

Ibiza is known for many things. Its soccer aptitude is not high up on the list. Yet the Spanish island found its third-tier club leading one of the world's powerhouses in their David vs. Goliath Copa del Rey showdown on Wednesday for over an hour before ultimately wilting.

Ibiza took a ninth-minute lead on Barcelona in their third-round meeting at the Estadio Municipal de Can Misses before conceding a pair of goals to Antoine Griezmann in the 72nd minute and in second-half stoppage time of the 2-1 result. 

Ibiza improbably took the lead when a deflection off Pep Caballe redirected Javi Perez's shot from the center of the box to beat Neto on the bouncy artificial surface, sparking celebrations in the expanded stands, with locals hoping for the upset to top all upsets.

Ibiza likely should have led by multiple goals, with one being disallowed for a foul and another opportunity bouncing off the post before Neto made the save on the rebound.

The deficit marked a stunning turn of events for Barcelona, which just featured season highs in ball possession and passes in Quique Setien's debut as manager over the weekend. 

While Lionel Messi was left out of the Barcelona squad for the match, Setien's team still included first-team talent like Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong, Ivan Rakitic and others, with reinforcements on the bench. The new manager likely didn't think he'd need his A-team to prevent Ibiza from throwing the party of the year, but it turns out he needed two of his stars and the club's summer signings to combine to make it 1-1, with de Jong feeding Griezmann for the club's first goal and Jordi Alba supplying the assist for his second. 

Before the valiant effort in defeat, Ibiza coach Pablo Alfaro indicated his club would be up for the challenge, telling Spanish outlet Marca, "Man, we've got some weapons. We know that our opponents are very powerful. Furthermore, they changed coaches a few days ago and the focus of the players will be very high. We're going to go out with humility and ambition. We're going to give them energy, passion and football; this is our magic formula."

Had Ibiza sprung the upset, it would have been astonishing on a variety of levels. Chief among them is that Barcelona is the most decorated club in competition history, winning it 30 times, while Ibiza's history of sporting success is the polar opposite, given it was founded in 2015. In terms of recent history, Barcelona has reached the final in nine of the last 11 seasons, with progression beyond the round of 32 almost assuredly a given. 

It wasn't accomplished the easy way, but that progression to the last 16 has indeed occurred.

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Avi Creditor
AVI CREDITOR

Avi Creditor is a senior editor and has covered soccer for more than a decade. He’s also a scrappy left back. 

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