"This has been hard. We will overcome this bad streak" - New signing Ferran Torres reacts to Barcelona's Copa del Rey exit

Barcelona's new boy Ferran Torres sounded optimistic in the aftermath of their stunning Copa del Rey loss to Athletic Bilbao.

The Catalans were knocked out in the Round of 16 of the competition following a 3-2 loss at San Mames on Thursday.

Pedri appeared to have rescued Xavi's side with a stoppage-time equalizer to make it 2-2 and force an additional 30 minutes.

However, the Lions struck a penalty in the 105th minute through Iker Muniain, who'd also scored in the second minute to send the visitors packing.

This was Barcelona's second cup exit over the last seven days, with Real Madrid also beating them in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup en route to lifting the trophy.

Torres, who scored his first goal for the club in the match, offered his thoughts in the aftermath while speaking to the press, believing that results will come if they continue to work hard.

According to quotes from Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo, he said:

“This has been hard. But we have to keep working and move on. We will overcome this bad streak. I think we played well but made individual mistakes. We are on the right track and we have to congratulate Athletic.

“We have to keep working and the results will come. The season is complicated, but we have players to get it through and we’ll get it through.

To make things worse, Ansu Fati went off with yet another injury and early reports suggest he could be out for six more weeks, having missed nearly the entirety of this campaign.

“We are recovering people who had been injured for a long time. Ansu has relapsed again. We have to keep working and the results will come.”

Barcelona's season already over?

Barcelona are now only active in La Liga and the Europa League, their last hopes of winning silverware this season.

However, it's worth noting that the Catalans are trailing Real Madrid in the league table by 17 points.

They have a game in hand but it's hard to see their Clasico rivals relinquish such a healthy margin between now and the end of the season.

Xavi's troops have also drawn Napoli in the UEFA Europa League round of 32, so another tough two-legged cup clash awaits.

Unless there's a drastic upswing in form, the club is headed for a second titleless season in three years.