Messi leads Barca to Copa comeback win over Rayo
Lionel Messi marked his go back from suspension with a goal in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday as Barcelona survived a scare against Rayo Vallecano to reach the quarter-finals.
With Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid already out, another upset looked on the cards when Fran Garcia gave Rayo a surprise lead at Vallecas early on in the next half.
But Messi tapped in Antoine Griezmann's move to equalise before turning creator, sending Jordi Alba through, with Frenkie de Jong at the trunk post to seal a 2-1 victory.
Rayo sit fourth in Segunda, Spain's second tier, after being relegated from the most notable flight in 2019, with their fans and players at loggerheads with the club's president Raul Martin Presa amid the club's decline.
A victory more than Barcelona, 30-period winners of the competition and today strong favourites to make it 31, would have delivered a short boost to morale, regardless if this compelling glass tie never had the strain it deserved without the ground's usually raucous supporters.
Still, Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman will be relieved to own managed to get to the quarter-finals also to see Messi in target once again, the Argentinian acquiring his tally for the growing season to 15 goals.
Messi had sat out the previous two games suspended soon after being sent off found in the Spanish Super Cup final defeat by Athletic Bilbao but looked refreshed and finally made the difference once again.
There were less positive outings for Riqui Puig, Francisco Trincao and Junior Firpo, who all missed an chance to impress Koeman, who promptly whisked all three off immediately after Rayo took the lead.
Koeman was filled with praise for De Jong.
"He's a more complete player today. As well as construction from behind, his capability to get to the box at the proper moments is aiding us to create and above all score goals," explained the Barcelona coach.
"We remain in the cup and we happen to be recovering our level in the league. We must keep going."
In the last eight, Barca join Sevilla, who had earlier manufactured light do the job of struggling Valencia.
Valencia were beaten 3-0, their focus now on avoiding relegation from La Liga.
Real Betis, Villarreal and Levante also progressed about Tuesday.
Barca reach the woodwork twice in the first one half. De Jong flicked a finish off onto the crossbar and Puig struck the content after Trincao's shot spilled out.
Messi was collecting the ball from deep and driving through midfield but both he and the weaving Puig were often frustrated by a good committed and aggressive Rayo defence.
Rayo rode their luck as well, another work grazing the crossbar early on in the next half, this time from Messi, who opted to curl a good free-kick towards the most notable corner from wide about the right.
But Rayo survived and when their first opportunity came, they took it. Breaking at quickness, the ball was enjoyed vast to Alvaro Garcia, who halted and then went again, departing Clement Lenglet for dead.
His fired cross was fumbled by Neto, with Fran Garcia in the right place for a tap-in.
Koeman responded by throwing Jordi Alba, Pedri and Ousmane Dembele on for Puig, Firpo and Trincao.
Alba pulled rear for Pedri and De Jong threaded through Griezmann, who looked up and gave Messi an start goal at the trunk post.
The substitutes took Barca to a new gear and ten minutes in the future, the comeback was complete as Messi clipped a spinning ball outrageous for Alba to run onto and he slid a pass for De Jong to score his fourth goal in seven games.
