New Delhi: Barcelona booked their place in the Copa Del Rey after drawing with Real Mallorca in an ill-tempered affair, that featured two red cards and a missed penalty.
The Catalans were far from dominant against their less illustrious opponents and only really made it safe after the introduction of Lionel Messi late on.
Before the Argentine was involved in the match Mallorca looked as they might take Barcelona to extra-time, but the forward got the all-important away goal to finish the home side off.
Earlier, Castro had given them the lead on the stroke of half-time with a brilliant strike from outside the box and then the big chance came when Martin Caceres was sent off for a tackle on the same striker inside the box.
Up stepped Marti to take the spot-kick but Pinto went the right way and saved it, ensuring the scores were not level.
From that moment on Barcelona never really came under sustained pressure but they are certainly still not back to their best judging by this display.
The big news from the start was the return of Andres Iniesta to the side and the Spaniard forced a brilliant one-handed save from German Lux inside the first couple of minutes after a superb run through the defence. That burst of skill did not signal Barcelona dominance though and the home side began to find their feet in the game.
The midfield worked hard to close down the Catalans and even though they didn't create much, Mallorca did not come under too much pressure themselves. The league leaders were mainly reduced to shooting from distance and Daniel Alves was one of a few players who saw an effort fly into the stands.
After a rather lifeless first forty-five minutes it looked as though it would be all square at half-time, until Castro popped up. The forward had barely been involved in the match up until then but his superbly struck shot from outside the box gave Pinto no chance as it sailed into the top corner, and gave the home fans plenty to cheer about at the break.
The underdogs looked to have given them even more to shout about just minutes after the restart too, when Alhassane Keita rolled a ball across goal that Pierre Webo tapped, but it was ruled out for offside. Not long after came the big incident in the game though, when Martin Caceres prevented Castro from reaching a cross from the left flank.
The defender was shown a red card for the foul but Marti could not make Barcelona pay even more, as Pinto saved his shot after pointing to which way he was going to dive. The exit of Caceres forced Guardiola's hand and he threw on Rafa Marquez and Lionel Messi in the next few minutes in a bid to make the game safe.
The Argentine was involved in the last two key moments of the match too as first he was fouled by Josemi on the edge of the box, which resulted in the Mallorca man receiving a second yellow card, and then he scored the equaliser. With less than 10 minutes left the forward arrived on the end of a ball in the box, after some lacklustre defending, and chipped over Lux to make the game safe for the Catalans.
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