Defending champion Barcelona avoided an upset a day after Real Madrid faltered in the Copa del Rey, edging second-division leader Racing Santander 2-0 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals.

It was an 11th straight win for Barcelona, who beat Madrid in Sunday's Spanish Supercopa.

Madrid, who also lost last year's Copa final to Barcelona, were eliminated by second-tier team Albacete 3-2 on Wednesday in the debut of coach Álvaro Arbeloa.

Ferran Torres broke the deadlock in Santander on a breakaway in the 66th minute, receiving a pass by Fermín López and going past the goalkeeper before finding the open net. Lamine Yamal sealed the victory in the sixth and final minute of added time.

Marcus Rashford nearly created the opener in the 10th minute as he sent an inviting ball into the box but Dani Olmo could not make contact in the six-yard box.

The on-loan Manchester United man was at the heart of the action and came close to scoring on the stroke of halftime, but his deflected effort was well stopped by Racing goalkeeper Jokin Ezkieta.

Getty Images

---

Rashford then wasted a great chance soon after the restart as Ezkieta produced a fine stop after good play by Yamal, before the teenager tested Ezkieta himself as Barcelona piled on the pressure.

Racing defender Mantilla then cleared off the line, with the resulting corner hitting the crossbar as the hosts' goal came under fire.

The hosts had two goals disallowed for offside, one in the 77th and another in the 86th, then squandered a golden chance to equalize in a one-on-one situation in second-half stoppage time, with Barcelona goalkeeper Joan García making a last-minute save on a shot by substitute Manex Lozano.

"Gladly we have Joan in goal," Torres said. "These teams are well prepared and have players with a lot of quality, that's why it has been so tough [for the first-division teams]."

The match was delayed in 15 minutes because of problems with access to the stadium in northern Spain.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick did not start some of his top players, including Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Pedri. All three of them entered the match as second-half substitutes.

Before kickoff, Racing players did a guard of honor for the Spanish Super Cup champions, lining up to salute the Barcelona players as they entered the field.

Information from PA and The Associated Press was used in this story.