Madrid: With Lionel Messi rested and Luis Suarez out injured, it was Antoine Griezmann who had to come through to save Barcelona from an embarrassing elimination in the Copa del Rey.
Griezmann scored two late goals as Barcelona came from behind to beat third-division club Ibiza 2-1 in the competition’s round of 32.
Real Madrid won 3-1 against Unionistas de Salamanca — another third-division team — with Gareth Bale scoring his first goal for the club since September.
Griezmann scored in the 72nd minute and in stoppage time after the hosts had taken the lead less than 10 minutes into the match played on artificial turf in the Balearic Islands.
“They were used to the field and got off to a better start,” Griezmann said. “We couldn’t create any scoring opportunities.”
In addition to the absence of Messi and Suarez, Barcelona also played without other regular starters such as Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets. It was the second match in charge for coach Quique Setien, who had debuted with a 1-0 win over Granada in the Spanish league last weekend.
“It wasn’t easy,” Setien said. “I didn’t like the way the team played.”
Bale ended an 11-match scoreless streak with a goal in the 18th minute of Madrid’s win against Unionistas. He hadn’t scored for Madrid since a Spanish league match on September 1.
Alvaro Romero equalised after the break — finishing a great run from midfield with a left-footed shot into the top corner, but Madrid took the lead again 10 minutes later with a close-range goal by Brahim Diaz, who replaced Bale because of an apparent injury.
Diaz added the gloss in the final minutes.
“We didn’t play as well as we wanted, but in the end we advanced, which was the important thing for us,” Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde said.
Athletic Bilbao escaped elimination against second-division club Elche thanks to a 5-4 win in a penalty shoot-out. The game finished 1-1 after extra time.
Real Sociedad beat Espanyol 2-0, while Villarreal eliminated Girona 3-0 and Valencia defeated Logrones 1-0. Second-division club Tenerife upset Valladolid 2-1.
