Madrid, Jan 16 (IANS) FC Barcelona advanced into the quarterfinal of the Copa del Rey with a 2-0 win away to second division leader Racing Santander on Thursday night.

Racing defended deep in the first half, and a Barcelona side that started without Pedri, Raphinha or Robert Lewandowski was unable to trouble home goalkeeper Jokin Ezkieta, report Xinhua.

Ferran Torres scored the opener on 65 minutes after an excellent pass from Fermin Lopez, and Ezkieta made two excellent saves to keep the score down in the closing minutes.

Racing was close to an equalizer, with young loanee Manex Lozano seeing two efforts ruled out for offside, and another shot saved by Joan Garcia in the final minutes.

Lamine Yamal scored Barcelona’s second in the last minute to finish off a counter-attack with Racing’s players stranded in attack looking for an equalizer.

Elsewhere, Valencia had some relief from its La Liga relegation battle with a 2-0 win away to second-tier Burgos in very cold and wet conditions in the El Plantio Stadium.

Ruben Iranzo’s header from a corner gave Valencia an early lead, with new signing Umar Sadiq ending Burgos’ hopes three minutes into the second half.

Barcelona and Valencia join Athletic Club, Atletico Madrid, Deportivo Alaves, Real Betis, Real Sociedad and Albacete in Monday’s quarterfinal draw, with second-tier Albacete having produced the biggest Cup upset in recent seasons with a 3-2 win at home to Real Madrid on Wednesday.

–IANS

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