BARCELONA: Two weeks ago, Gerard Pique and Antoine Griezmann were heatedly arguing with each other in a big loss to Paris St Germain in the Champions League that deepened Barcelona’s crisis.

On Wednesday, the two were celebrating together after Griezmann set up Pique’s stoppage-time goal that allowed Barca to reach the Copa del Rey final.

Pique’s goal helped secure a 3-2 aggregate victory over Sevilla, easing some of the pressure on the embattled club that two days saw former president Josep Maria Bartomeu get arrested by Catalan police investigating possible irregularities during his administration.

Sevilla won the first leg 2-0 but Pique’s header four minutes into stoppage time, moments after Fernando had been sent off for Sevilla, forced extra time before Martin Braithwaite grabbed the decisive goal with a scrappy diving header off a Jordi Alba cross in the fifth minute of extra-time to send Barca into their ninth Copa del Rey final in 11 seasons.

That was after Ousmane Dembele, who scored in the 2-0 win at Sevilla in La Liga at the weekend, had given the 30-time Spanish Cup winners a 12th-minute lead in the second leg with a right-foot drive from outside the area.

Sevilla deployed uncharacteristically negative tactics yet they wasted a glorious chance to make it 1-1 in the second half and effectively kill the tie when Lucas Ocampos squandered a penalty.

Barca will meet either Levante or Athletic Bilbao in the final in Seville on April 17, looking to lift the Copa del Rey for a record-extending 31st time.

“I haven’t been this happy for a long time, it was a magic night,” said Barca’s Jordi Alba. “It’s just a shame our fans weren’t there to see it. We played superbly and we were always convinced we would go through but we couldn’t score until the last minute. I’m so proud of the team. We have a lot of things to improve but if we fight like we fought today everything will be easier.”

Pique and Griezmann were caught complaining with each other in the 4-1 loss to PSG in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League two weeks ago. The second leg will be next week in Paris.

“To reverse a 4-1 result is different,” Barca coach Ronald Koeman said. We will go there to try to win the match and we will see if there’s a chance of advancing.”

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2021