Barcelona edge past ten-man Real Sociedad to reach Copa del Rey semi finals

The first Copa del Rey quarter-final of 2023 saw the 2021 winners host the 2020 winners at the Camp Nou and it was Barcelona who progressed with a narrow 1-0 win over Real Sociedad.

The home side dominated early proceedings and they even had the ball in the net inside the opening 15 minutes, but it was correctly ruled out for offside. Ousmane Dembele was looking lively and, minutes later, he flashed a shot just wide.

Shortly after that, Dembele was causing problems again and Frenkie De Jong turned his cross just wide. It felt like a matter of time before the Blaugrana went even closer, but they needed Marc-Andre ter Stegen at the other end, with the German tipping Take Kubo's strong left-footed effort onto the bar after half-an-hour played.

The game started to heat up in the latter part of the second half, however, and it boiled over a few minutes before the break. In a scrappy few seconds of midfield action, Sergio Busquets scythed down Take Kubo, before he in turn was the victim of a late challenge by Brais Mendez.

The ref was quick to show a yellow card to the Txuri-Urdin midfielder, who he had warned shortly prior and was still fuming about being elbowed by Robert Lewandowski. Replays showed that Mendez had gone in studs up, however, and when VAR called the referee over, he changed the yellow to a red, reducing La Real to ten men.

After that, the Catalans became even more dominant and it was no surprise that Dembele was the author of the breakthrough goal. Send sprinting down the channel by Jules Kounde, his pace was too much for the defence and his finish too powerful for Alex Remiro.

The Basque side had their moments, though, with Alex Sorloth managing to send the ball over the bar from close range after a good cross from Kubo on the left.

Dembele continued to prove too much to handle on the right and almost got himself an assist in the 68th minute when his cross was guided onto the bar by Gavi.

Real Sociedad did cause the hosts a scare or two late on as they pressed desperately for an equaliser. It wasn't to be, though, and with a little help from Ter Stegen, Barcelona held on.

The Blaugrana thus book their place in Monday's draw, with the remaining quarter-finals to be concluded by Thursday night.