Barcelona could lose goalkeeper Neto to injury

The Catalans have confirmed their custodian suffered an injury in the second half of their cup win

Barcelona goalkeeper Neto could spend time on the sideline after spraining his left ankle in Wednesday’s narrow Copa del Rey win over Ibiza.

Neto suffered the injury when he collided with team-mate Clement Lenglet and an Ibiza player in the 50th minute of the 2-1 victory at the Estadio Municipal de Can Misses in the Balearic Islands.

The 30-year-old Brazilian was able to complete the match but will undergo testing on Thursday to determine the extent of the issue, Barca confirmed in a statement.

Neto was making his fourth appearance for the club since arriving from La Liga rivals Valencia in the close season.

Barca needed two late Antoine Griezmann goals to avoid embarrassment against their third-tier opponents, who took a shock lead through a Josep Caballe deflection.

The third-tier club opened the scoring with a goal that will serve as an indelible moment in their history in just the ninth minute of proceedings.

Rai Nascimento’s pull-back from the left was met by Javi Perez who, after being allowed to ghost into the box by Riqui Puig, saw his shot deflected beyond Neto by Caballe.

Neto was beaten again eight minutes later, but Angel Rodado’s effort was correctly chalked off for his push on Clement Lenglet.

Only the woodwork spared Barca further embarrassment as Rai’s close-range effort hit the inside of the left-hand post and bounced out, with Neto palming Rodado’s follow-up over the crossbar.

Barca grew more dangerous in the second half and they finally found a way through when Frenkie de Jong fed Griezmann and the France international slotted home in confident fashion.

Extra time looked an inevitability, but Barca were able to ensure they did not have to exert themselves for another half-hour as they found the winner in the fourth of six additional minutes.

Jordi Alba was this time the man to send Griezmann clear and he made no mistake with a near-post finish that broke the hearts of a raucous home crowd.

First-choice keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will almost certainly return in goal for Saturday’s La Liga trip to Valencia, with 20-year-old Inaki Pena in line to serve as deputy.

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