FC Barcelona barely avoided an embarrassment against a brave third division club in the Spanish Cup. Barca only won 4: 3 (3: 3, 1: 0) in the duel against CF Intercity in extra time on Wednesday evening (January 4th, 2023) and literally trembled into the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.
Ronald Araujo (4th), Ousmane Dembelé (66th), Raphael (77th) and Ansu Fati (103rd) scored the goals for the big favorite, who conceded three equalizers. All three goals for the hosts marked Oriol Soldevila Puig.
Lewandowski rested – and soon blocked
While the German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen was on the bench, Robert Lewandowski was not in the squad for reasons of stress. However, the Polish national striker will soon be missing from the league. The Spanish sports court TAD has confirmed the three-game ban against the world footballer because of a dismissal in the league on November 8th at CA Osasuna. A Barça spokesman said this when asked on Wednesday. Shortly before New Year’s Eve, Lewandowski’s ban was temporarily suspended and the striker was surprisingly able to play in the 1-1 city derby against Espanyol on the last day of last year.
Now the ex-Munich player is likely to miss his club against Atlético Madrid this Sunday, against Getafe on January 21 or 22 and against Girona on January 28 or 29 if FC Barcelona does not appeal the decision again.