Albacete star determined to beat Barcelona in Copa del Rey quarterfinal – ‘Put out heart and soul’ | OneFootball

Following the draw earlier in the day, Barcelona have learnt they will face Albacete in the quarterfinal of the Copa del Rey.

As the only lower division team remaining in the competition, this looks quite a favourable draw on paper for Barcelona.

However, it must be remembered that Albacete pulled off the biggest surprise of the Copa del Rey season by beating Real Madrid 3-2 in the last round. And if there was one hero from that game, it was Jefte Betancor.

The Albacete centre-forward scored two goals against Los Blancos, including a late 90+5-minute winner to seal the win for his team. As Albacete face Barcelona, the player has retained the same level of hunger.

Betancor determined to beat Barcelona

Reacting to the draw, Betancor admitted Albacete will put heart and soul into the game against Barcelona, even though it won’t be an easy game for the minnows.

Albacete will have home advantage in Copa Del Rey clash vs Barcelona. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

The forward started by recalling Albacete’s excellent performance against Real Madrid in the Round of 16.

“The whole team played a perfect game. I’m very happy to have scored both goals and to have advanced to the next round. The truth is, the night was spectacular. Every kid dreams of this when they’re little,” he said (h/t Mundo Deportivo).

Talking about Barcelona, Betancor, who is currently on loan at Albacete and is originally a player of Olympiacos, praised the Catalan team but added that his team will make things difficult for Hansi Flick’s men.

“We’re going to give it our all. We’re going to put our heart and soul into it, just like we did in the last round. It’s an exciting match, and we’re going to leave everything on the field to try and advance,” he said.

“It’s very difficult because [Barça] is a fantastic team. But as we showed against Real Madrid, we put our heart and soul into it. We’re going to try,” he concluded.