Barcelona have taken the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final with a 7-0 home win against Valencia, thanks to four goals from Luis Suárez and a hat-trick by Lionel Messi. The Blaugrana extended their unbeaten streak to 27 games in all competitions this season with a comfortable, spectacular win, totally dominating the opposition and getting a big advantage in the tie, basically booking a place in the Spanish Cup final.
FIRST HALF
The initial 45 minutes were not even close to what was predicted. Gary Neville fielded an ultra-defensive starting eleven in hopes to avoid a Blaugrana blitz. It did not work. The visitors never saw the ball, never stopped Barça's possession game and could not trouble the hosts in any way.
And the Catalans capitalized big time. Suárez scored twice in a span of five minutes, and before the half-hour mark, Lionel Messi got his goal as well. Barça continued to attack in search for more, and if it wasn't for the woodwork, it could have been five. In a great counter-attack, Suárez crossed to Messi, who shot with pace and hit the crossbar. In the last play of the half, Shkodran Mustafi fouled Messi in the box and got a red card. Neymar stepped up to take the penalty in his weird, close-range stance, and hit the post with a somewhat unlucky shot.
At halftime, the Blaugranes had a man up, a three-score lead and all pieces in place to guarantee a spot in the final with a few more second half goals.
SECOND HALF
The final period was a reflection of the first. Valencia did take a few trips to the attacking field, but couldn't do any harm. Barça continued to dominate the ball and create chances through quick, precise passing and player movement. That led to a fourth goal which involved a beautiful flick by Suárez that fell to Messi, who made one of his famous runs through the defense and calmly got the goal.
Messi was back to work fifteen minutes later, when he stole a ball in the box, quickly found a good striking position, and fired a bomb to the near corner to complete his hat-trick and give Barça an even bigger lead. There was more on the way, with a cross from the left side finding Suárez again, and the Uruguayan got a hat-trick of his own to extend the gap to six goals. El Pistolero could not stop scoring, and got his fourth of the game with a rocket to the bottom corner two minutes away from the final whistle.
In the end, a destruction at home, and a place in the Copa del Rey final already in the books.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Vidal, Piqué (Bartra), Mathieu, Alba (Adriano); Busquets, Arda, Iniesta (Roberto); Messi, Suárez, Neymar
Goals: Suárez (6', 11', 82', 88'), Messi (29', 58', 74')
Valencia: Ryan; Barragán, Mustafi, Aderlan, Gayà; Danilo (Feghouli), Cancelo (Cheryshev), Parejo, Gomes, Siqueira (Vezo); Rodrigo
from Barca Blaugranes - All Posts http://ift.tt/1ULzuVP
0 التعليقات:
إرسال تعليق