BARCELONA forward Ferran Torres opened his account for the club in emphatic fashion in a five-goal thriller against Athletic Bilbao on Thursday night.
But the 21-year-old‘s beautiful curling effort failed to make a difference as the Blaugrana crashed out of the Copa del Rey after losing 3-2 in their Round of 16 clash.
Torres, who linked up with the Catalan club from Manchester City in a deal rising to £55million last month, was making just his second Barca appearance.
His debut came in the 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid in last week’s Spanish Super Cup semi-final.
Torres lasted just 46 minutes that match, but he certainly made an impression against Bilbao at the San Mames Barria Stadium.
The hosts opened the scoring after just two minutes through Iker Muniain, but Torres equalised with an exquisite strike in the 20th minute.
Torres was found by Sergio Busquets inside the edge of the box, with the Spain international taking one touch before skipping past Oscar de Marcos.
And with his third touch he found the top right corner with a pinpoint finish beyond the outstretched arms of Julen Agirrezabala.
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Bilbao then thought they had snatched victory at the death after Inigo Martinez put them back ahead in the 86th minute.
But deep into stoppage time, Pedri got the visitors back on level terms for the second time after he smashed home from inside the box.
Dani Alves kept the play alive after his overhead kick found the young midfielder, who rifled the ball into the back of the net on the half volley.
The drama didn’t stop there as Bilbao would take the lead for a third time after Muniain scored from the penalty spot in added time of the first half in extra-time.
This time there was no way back for Barca, who are now three games without a win in all competitions.
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