Barça defeats Gary Neville’s Valencia 7-0 in Copa del Rey semis first leg

Saturday, February 6, 2016

On Wednesday, FC Barcelona defeated Valencia CF 7–0 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at Camp Nou. Lionel Messi netted three goals and Uruguyan striker Luis Suárez netted four.

The Catalans, Barcelona, have now scored more than 100 goals this season, and have not been defeated in the league since October, winning their last 27 games overall. Gary Neville, who became Valencia’s manager in December, has yet to win a league game, and the team have not won any of their last eleven La Liga matches.

Barcelona had greater ball possession in the match. Five yellow cards and one red card were shown.

Neymar assisted Suárez for the opening goal of the match in the 7^th minute. Five minutes later, Alexis Vidal assisted Suárez, who netted the second goal, Barcelona’s 100th goal this season. Valencia were trailing 2–0 with less than a quarter of an hour played. Just before the half-hour mark, Neymar flicked on for Messi to score the team’s third. Valencia’s captain Shkodran Mustafi was sent off late in the first half for a foul on Messi in the penalty box, but Neymar missed the resulting penalty, hitting the post.

Messi scored from an assist by Suárez in the 58^th and completed his hat-trick in the 74^th minute, to put the visitors 5–0 down. Suárez scored from a header in the 83^rd minute, assisted by Adriano and then in the 88^th minute, he converted Arda Turan’s assist, giving Barcelona a comfortable win.