FC Barcelona advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2025/26 Copa del Rey after overcoming a tough match in Cantabria against Racing de Santander (0-2). The leader of La Liga Hypermotion put up a fight in El Sardinero against a Barça side that, once again, had Lamine Yamal as their best player on the field.
On a cold and wet night, the '10' took charge of the Barça attack, with a Marcus Rashford once again erratic and a Ferran Torres, scorer of Barça's first goal with a notable finish, but who also had a rather poor game in the Copa del Rey round of 16.
Lamine, on the other hand, did not stop trying on his flank during the first 15 minutes. A free kick that went slightly high was his only chance before halftime, but in the second half, the player from Mataró was a nightmare for **Mario García, the left-back for the Cantabrians**, who was replaced in the 72nd minute, physically exhausted and booked for stepping on Yamal.
Lamine Yamal reaches 10 goals in 25/26
In the 48th minute, a great pass from the '10' left Rashford one-on-one with Ezkieta, but the local goalkeeper prevented the Englishman's goal with a saving hand. The keeper also appeared to contain, in two stages, a shot from Lamine himself with a bounce two minutes later.
The winger came close to an assist again in the 52nd minute with a cross that **Manu Herrando** miraculously cleared when Ferran was arriving alone to head it in from close range. On a subsequent corner, Yamal came close to scoring an Olympic goal with a very tight cross that surprised Ezkieta and hit the crossbar.
Lamine put Racing against the ropes and the Cantabrians' resistance finally broke in the 66th minute with **a great pass from Fermín López to Ferran** which the 'Shark' took advantage of to score his fifteenth goal of the season.
The locals, however, tried until the end and scored a couple of goals disallowed for offside. In stoppage time, **Manex Lozano** had the equalizer to force a penalty shootout, but he shot directly at **Joan García**'s body in a one-on-one situation where he had a pass to the middle with a teammate free to tap it into an empty net.
Right after, in the last play of the match, Lamine led a lethal counter-attack for Barça. The '10' wanted to assist Lewandowski, but the Pole ran too far ahead. Luckily, Raphinha appeared at the far post, prolonging the play with a low cross that the '10' took advantage of to finish at point-blank range.
For the Rocafona player, it was his 10th goal in 25/26, his first in the Copa del Rey. **The 18-year-old forward now has 20 direct goal involvements in 24 games** and has matched 'Lewy' as the third-highest scorer for Barça, behind Ferran (15) and Raphinha (11)
Lamine Yamal's records against Racing de Santander
- Minutes played: 90
- Goals: 1
- Assists: 0
- Chances created: 6
- Passes completed: 43 of 58 (74 %)
- Duels won: 7 of 17 (41 %)
- Dribbles: 4 of 7 (57 %)
- Defensive actions: 1
- Recoveries: 3
- Shots on target: 2 of 4 (50 %)
- Turnovers: 4
- Fouls suffered: 2