By Goal.com News on Thursday, 21 January 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Cornella vs Barcelona

40' IT'S SAVED! Pjanic tries to find the bottom-left corner but Ramon guesses the right way and gets a strong hand on the ball before gathering at the second attempt.

38' PENALTY TO BARCELONA! Estelles catches Araujo with a high foot when attempting to clear a cross into the box, and the referee does not hesitate in pointing to the spot. Barca have a chance to move in front.

37' Braithwaite finally gets the chance to have a shot from Ilaix's knockdown but his connection isn't clean and it's deflected behind for another corner.

35' Another chance for Cornella! Medina swings a free-kick in from the left and it finds the head of Eloy. The captain is unable to keep his effort down, though, nodding it well over the top for a goal-kick.

33' GREAT SAVE!! Pjanic drills a flat delivery from a corner towards the edge of the box, where Trincao steams in and connects with an exquisite left-footed volley. It takes a slight deflection off Estelles but is still kept out by Ramon.

32' Cornella are pressing really high at the moment, largely because Neto's goal-kicks rarely leave his own box. But Barca are able to play their way through the hosts and are soon up the other end of the pitch, with Ilaix getting an effort away that is deflected behind for a corner.

30' CLOSE! Eloy and Medina combine down the right before the former plays in Guzman on the overlap. He whips the ball towards the near post where Ontiveros gets on the end of it but fails to turn it on target.

28' Ontiveros has shown his pace during the first half an hour but he lacks the strength to get around Araujo and stop a pass going out for a goal-kick. Neto takes it short to Junior and his pass is straight to an opponent, but fortunately for him the hosts fail to take advantage.

26' OVER! Pjanic's corner is headed away by Cornella but only as far as Trincao 20 yards out. He sends a volley back towards goal but it is always rising and goes nowhere near the target.

24' CHANCE FOR CORNELLA! Medina's corner is flicked goalwards by Moreno but Ontiveros appears to tread on the ball rather than control it. He slips to the floor and handles the ball in the process, giving the visitors a free-kick. That was their best opportunity so far, though.

22' Dorca miscontrols the ball on the edge of the Cornella box and Griezmann picks it up before turning and sliding a pass towards Braithwaite. Barca are forced to settle for a corner and Ramon punches it away.

20' The free-kick is laucnhed towards the box for Ontiveros to chase but Lenglet gets between the attacker and the ball, which bounces up nicely into the grasp of Neto.

19' Mingueza stands a cross up at the back post but there is no one there to connect with it and Guzman heads it out for a throw-in. Barca look to build again but Junior gives away a free-kick for a late tackle on Guzman.

17' Cornella are rushing to get forward whenever they get the ball but it means they are quick to hand possession straight back to Barca and invite them onto them once more.

15' SHOULD THAT BE A PENALTY?! Ilaix gets to the byline and cuts the ball back towards Griezmann. It clips the underside of the arm of Moreno as he slides in to make a challenge but is not deemed sufficient for a spot-kick! There is no VAR to take a look at it either. Griezmann still gets his shot away but it's blocked by the nearest defender.

14' Barca are playing a quite patient passing game but Cornella are doing a good job of pressing and forcing their opponents to make quick decisions. Eloy wins the ball and tries to spark a break but his attempted throughball is intercepted by Lenglet.

12' Eloy loses out to Ilaix in midfield and Barcelona work the ball out to Mingueza on the right. The ball finds its way back to Ilaix in the centre of the pitch and he fizzes a pass towards Griezmann, who is unable to control it and it runs out for a goal-kick.

10' Griezmann tries his luck from wide on the right but is nowhere close to threatening Ramon. It makes you wonder whether that was a poor shot or a poor cross!

8' Medina sends a deep corner swinging towards the back post and Neto watches it the whole way before palming the ball to safety. Barca look to get forward properly for the first time but a stray pass from Lenglet does their chances no good.

6' Pkanic is penalised for a foul on Medina just inside the Barca half and Cornella take the opportunity to launch the free-kick into the box. It finds Eloy on the far side but Minguez intervenes to concede a corner. It's taken short and is cleared behind for another corner.

5' Medina goes down with a shout and is clutching at his ankle following a tackle from Ilaix. There was not an awful lot in it but the referee awards the free-kick.

3' Ontiveros tries to get a cross in from the left but the ball is blocked and it goes out for a throw. It is launched towards the near post, where Ilaix heads it away and Cornella end up passing all the way back to their goalkeeper.

1' Barcelona get the ball rolling.

The teams are heading out onto the pitch and kick-off will be upon us soon!

This will be the first official meeting between Cornella and Barcelona. The Segunda B side are the 86th different opponent Barca have faced in the Copa.

Lionel Messi is absent for Barcelona due to suspension, but Koeman has still taken the chance to rest Frenkie de Jong and Jordi Alba in a line-up that includes just three players who started the defeat to Athletic on Sunday. Ilaix makes his debut in midfield, while Collado will be hoping to make his third senior appearance for the club from the bench. For Cornella, Ramon returns in goal and takes the place of Juanma. Their only other change sees Albert Estelles come in for Rulo Prieto.

Barcelona bench: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Arnau Tenas, Samuel Umtiti, Matheus Fernandes, Sergio Busquets, Alex Collado, Konrad de la Fuente, Pedri, Ousmane Dembele.

Barcelona (4-3-3): Neto; Oscar Minguez, Ronald Araujo, Clement Lenglet, Junior Firpo; Ilaix Moriba, Miralem Pjanic, Riqui Puig; Antoine Griezmann, Martin Braithwaite, Francisco Trincao.

Cornella bench: Juanma Santaella, Chiki, Alex Pla, Gerard Martin, Eric Mourin, Aschalew Sanmarti, Thymos Caroutas, Marc Vilaplana, Gonzalo Carmona.

Cornella (4-4-2): Ramon Juan; Albert Estelles, Pol Moreno, Borja Garcia, Kevin Presa; Ivan Guzman, Albert Dorca, Max Marcet, Agus Medina; Javier Ontiveros, Eloy Gila.

Cornella have already pulled off one shock in the Copa this year by eliminating Atletico Madrid in the previous round. They'll be hoping to emulate Alcoyano's achievement against Real Madrid on Wednesday and send another LaLiga giant in the form of Barcelona out of the competition. Ronald Koeman is without some senior figures but will expect his team to bounce back from their Supercopa de Espana final defeat to Athletic Bilbao at the weekend by beating Cornella.

Hello and welcome to this live commentary on the Copa del Rey clash between third-tier Cornella and LaLiga giants Barcelona.

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