Albacete 1-2 Barcelona: "Genius" Lamine Yamal creates history as Hansi Flick's side progress in Copa del Rey

Lamine Yamal set a new personal record in Barcelona's 2-1 victory over Albacete in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night.

The 18-year-old made the breakthrough in the latter stages of the first period, before Ronald Araujo netted a second for the La Liga champions shortly after the restart.

Albacete, who had beaten Real Madrid in the round of 16, once again provided an excellent account of themselves and were able to give their supporters a goal to cheer when Javi Moreno netted in the 87th minute of the last-eight affair.

Yamal has now scored in four successive matches for Barcelona for the first time in his career, with the Spaniard in excellent form.

The forward has now scored 14 goals and registered 13 assists in 29 appearances in all competitions for the Catalan giants.

Yamal has been in excellent form for Barcelona this season

Yamal has netted in his last two La Liga appearances against Real Oviedo and Elche, in addition to the Champions League game with Copenhagen last week.

The Spaniard will now be looking to continue his excellent run when Barcelona resume their La Liga campaign against Mallorca on Saturday afternoon.

"Lamine Yamal is a genius, he opened the scoring. But I'm especially happy for Ronald Araujo. He scored, he started the match, and although he was exhausted at the end, we are very satisfied with our captain's return. He scored a goal that gave us a bit more calm," Barcelona president Joan Laporta told TV3 after the match.

Meanwhile, Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick also commented on Araujo, who was absent in the latter stages of 2025 in order to protect his mental health.

Laporta, Flick praise Araujo after defender's struggles

“He’s taking it step by step, that’s the important thing. The goal will help him gain confidence and feel better about himself," he told reporters.

“We support him and we’re behind him. He was tired at the end, but he played a good game and scored an important goal for him and for us."

Araujo has now scored three goals in 20 appearances for Barcelona this season, and he will again hope to be involved in this weekend's clash with Mallorca.

Flick's side are fighting on three fronts in the final months of the campaign, with the Catalan giants also bidding for success in La Liga and the Champions League.