
Audio By Carbonatix
Philippe Coutinho made his debut for Barcelona as they beat Espanyol to reach the Spanish Cup semi-finals.
The £142m signing from Liverpool came on with 22 minutes to play, by which time Barca was already 2-0 up in reply to last week's 1-0 first-leg defeat.
Coutinho might have had an assist were it not for Pau Lopez's fine save from Luis Suarez, who earlier headed Barca's opener against their city rivals.
Lionel Messi got the decisive second with Barca's 4,000th Nou Camp goal.
The forward's deflected shot wrong-footed Lopez in the 25th minute, and he almost added a second in the game's closing stages with a thumping header that struck the post from Ivan Rakitic's destructive cross.
An Espanyol strike would have sent Quique Sanchez Flores' side through on the away goals rule, and Gerard Moreno had a penalty shout turned down in the 81st minute.
Moreno appeared to be about to connect with a cross on the counter-attack - he only had the goalkeeper to beat - when he went down in the box under apparent pressure from Jordi Alba behind him, but the referee waved his appeal away.
Sevilla, Valencia and Leganes - who knocked out Real Madrid on Wednesday - are the other teams in the last four.
Before kick-off, Argentina defender Javier Mascherano walked out onto the pitch to say his goodbyes, having completed a move to Chinese Super League club Hebei China Fortune.
The 33-year-old former West Ham and Liverpool player spent eight years at Barca, winning 18 trophies including four La Liga titles and two Champions Leagues.
Latest Stories
-
Mexico beat 10-man Ecuador to set up potential tie with England
39 minutes -
International IDEA commends Isaac Adjin Bonney for six years of leadership on finance and audit committee
48 minutes -
Good governance requires consultation – GUTA faults utility tariff increase process
55 minutes -
‘Floodwaters do not discriminate’ – Asenso-Boakye urges unity against flooding
56 minutes -
‘We woke up to the announcement’ – GUTA slams lack of consultation on utility tariff hike
1 hour -
GUTA challenges utility tariff increase, says strong cedi should have led to price cuts
3 hours -
‘Why increase utility tariffs?’ – GUTA says economic indicators point the other way
3 hours -
A plane crashed into a tower in Beijing but China is not saying what happened
3 hours -
Beyond Gold: Why Ghana must build strategic national reserves for the next global crisis
3 hours -
South Africa’s anti-migrant protesters march nationwide, after thousands flee violence
5 hours -
Ebola outbreak could cost Africa up to $3.6 billion, UN says
5 hours -
Bayer’s $7.25 billion Roundup settlement gets August hearing date
5 hours -
TikTok to settle with teen plaintiff before California social media trial, law firm says
5 hours -
Mbappe scores twice as France breeze past Sweden into last 16
6 hours -
Chinese tycoon sentenced to 30 years in US jail
6 hours