MADRID: It was a case of win one, lose one for Barcelona. On the pitch they beat fourth tier Barbastro 4-0 in the Copa del Rey but off it they lost yet another bid to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor for the second half of the season.

Barcelona signed Euro-winning hero Olmo from RB Leipzig on a six-year deal in August for €55m and Victor in July but registered them only for the first half of the season to meet LaLiga wage cap considerations.

The Spanish football federation and LaLiga have now rejected a second request to register both players for the second half.

Two courts had previously rejected the club’s requests.

LaLiga had previously welcomed the legal rulings, saying additional spending was allowed so long-term injuries do not weaken a team but the rule should not be exploited to allow the registration of players whose salaries exceed the limit.

The club had managed to register Olmo after long-term injuries kept first-team players out of the squad for months, allowing Barca to allocate a portion of wages to register the player who was joint top scorer at Euro 2024.

Spanish media reported that Barcelona plan to file a complaint to the Spanish government via the Administrative Sports Court (CSD) in a last-ditch attempt to allow the pair to play.

The 4-0 win at Barbastro on saw striker Robert Lewandowski score both sides of the break.

Defender Eric Garcia put Barca in front with a bullet header in the 21st minute before Lewandowski nodded home from close range 10 minutes later.

The Poland striker added a third goal two minutes into the second half with a simple low finish from near the penalty spot and Pablo Torre made it 4-0 after capitalising on an error by Barbastro goalkeeper Arnau Fabrega.

“We had to start the year like this,” coach Hansi Flick told a press conference. “We were very good in defence. We didn’t give our rivals any chance.”

The win saw Barcelona coach Hansi Flick reach the 100th victory of his managerial career while Barcelona emergency signing Wojciech Szczesny made his debut in goal for the club.

Former Poland keeper Szczesny came out of retirement when he joined the LaLiga giants in October to replace the injured Marc-Andre Ter Stegen but had to wait to make his debut while his rival between the posts Inaki Pena maintained good form.

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