Copa del Rey semi-final: Barcelona thrash Valencia 7-0

Barcelona humiliated Valencia in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final. Los Blaugranas thrashed their opponents 7-0, and all the goals came from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi. The Uruguayan scored four times in Valencia’s net, while the Argentinian finished with a hat-trick. The result could have been even more emphatic had Neymar converted his chance from the penalty spot.

The main reason for the humiliating scoreline was Shkodran Mustafi’s red card at the end of the first half, which also brought the penalty that the Brazilian star Neymar missed.

Valencia’s collapse looked certain to lead to the sacking of manager Gary Neville. Under his leadership, Valencia had not recorded a single victory in the Primera Division, and The Bats were lying 12th in the standings. It was now clear that The Bats would not reach the cup final, which had been their chance to rescue the season.

Barcelona were on a run of 27 matches unbeaten in all competitions. Luis Enrique’s players had last lost to Sevilla, 1-2, in October.

The home side pressed their visitors from the very start. Barcelona needed seven minutes to go in front: Neymar provided a great assist for Luis Suarez, who found the net with ease for 1-0. The Uruguayan doubled the lead just five minutes later.

Barcelona kept putting on a great show for the spectators at Camp Nou. In the 29th minute Iniesta passed to Neymar, who played a superb back-heel. Suarez let the ball run through to Messi, who calmly found the net.

A lack of confidence left Valencia’s players doing nothing but defending and waiting for the final whistle. After the three quick goals, Lionel Messi hit the bar. Then, in the 42nd minute, Mustafi fouled Messi in the box and the referee showed him a red card, the most crucial moment of the match.

Barcelona’s show continued in the second half. In the 59th minute Luis Suarez found Messi in the box with a brilliant back-heel pass, and the Argentinian magician went past two defenders to create shooting space. The rest was easy, and the lead grew to 4-0.

Several minutes after his second goal of the game, Messi completed his hat-trick, the 37th of his brilliant career. That was not all. Suarez found the net again with seven minutes to go, heading in an excellent cross from Adriano Correia for 6-0. Even that was not enough for the Uruguayan forward: in the 88th minute he received a great pass from Arda and scored to make it 7-0.

The second leg at Mestalla

With a seven-goal cushion, the return match on 10 February 2016 was a formality. Luis Enrique rotated heavily and Gary Neville fielded several youngsters, among them Santi Mina. Álvaro Negredo gave Valencia the lead shortly before half-time, but the teenage substitute Wilfrid Kaptoum equalised late on. The 1-1 draw sent Barcelona into the final 8-1 on aggregate.

How the season ended

The unbeaten run went much further than 27 games. It reached 39 matches in all competitions before Real Madrid won 2-1 at Camp Nou on 2 April 2016, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring the late winner after Sergio Ramos had been sent off. Barcelona recovered to secure the La Liga title on the final day, 14 May 2016, when a Luis Suarez hat-trick earned a 3-0 win against Granada. It was the club’s 24th league title.

The Copa del Rey final against Sevilla followed at the Vicente Calderón in Madrid on 22 May 2016. Javier Mascherano was sent off in the first half and the match was goalless after 90 minutes. In extra time Jordi Alba scored from a long pass by Messi, and Neymar added a second late on, again set up by Messi, as Barcelona won 2-0 to lift the trophy for the 28th time.

For Valencia, the season brought another change on the bench. Gary Neville was dismissed on 30 March 2016 after four months in charge, with a record of ten wins, seven draws and eleven defeats in 28 games in all competitions. His last match was a 2-0 home defeat by Celta Vigo, and Pako Ayestaran took over.