Barcelona stunned by third-tier Spanish minnows as ex-Birmingham flop crushes stunning Copa del Rey hat-trick
AN OLD Birmingham City flop stunned Barcelona as they kicked THREE goals past them in the Copa del Rey.
But Xavi Hernandez had the last laugh as his side scored an extra-time winner to book their place in the last 16.
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Third Division minnows Intercity welcomed the La Liga giants to their humble home in Alicante, Valencia on Wednesday.
And midfielder Oriol Soldevila had a night to remember, scoring a fantastic hat-trick against superstars including world Cup finalists Jules Kounde and Ousmane Dembele.
It was a remarkable achievement for the formerBarcelona Youth, who also spent two years with the Birmingham City youth team before leaving without making a single senior appearance.
Soldevila only joined Intercity last summer and scored just two goals before becoming the first player since Kylian Mbappe for Paris Saint-Germain in February 2021 to hit three against Barcelona.
Speaking after the final whistle, the humble Soldevila revealed he won’t be looking to swap his shirt with one of the big names on the pitch, but rather looking for a close friend – and the third-choice keeper Barca – Arnau Tenas.
Soldevila said, βI’ve been with Cule since I can remember, I’m a member too. With the first I was happy, with the second and the third I couldn’t believe it.
βThe shirt I will ask for is Arnau Tenas, the third goalkeeper there. He’s my best friend in football, he’s the one I want.
Unfortunately for Soldevila, his hat-trick was not enough to prevent Intercity from crashing out to a 4-3 loss.
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Ronaldo Araujo opened the scoring for Barcelona after just four minutes.
But Soldevila equalized his team with his first goal in the 59th minute.
Ousmane Dembele restored Barca’s lead seven minutes later before Soldevila equalized again in the 74th minute.
Raphinha made it 3-2 for the visitors moments later, but Soldevila stunned Xavi with a spectacular 86th-minute effort for 3-3.
Yet Barca had the last laugh as Ansu Fati’s 103rd-minute extra-time effort wrapped up victory for the title hopefuls.
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