Barcelona 7-0 Valencia: Luis Suarez scores four and Lionel Messi bags a hat-trick as Gary Neville's Copa del Rey dream is dashed
Luis Suarez soars in celebration as Lionel Messi and Neymar show their elation in the background as they smash Valencia 7-0
Gary
Neville stood with his hand stuffed into his pockets, alone in his
technical area, looking forlornly towards Valencia's goal.
The
clock inside the Nou Camp showed only 13 minutes had passed but Neville
knew, as did everyone else inside the stadium, that the first leg of
the Copa del Rey semi-final was over. Soon the tie would be, too.
When Barcelona
are in this rampant mood, there is nothing opponents can do other than
brace themselves for a night of unrelenting misery and that is exactly
what Neville was given on his first trip to the Nou Camp as Valencia
manager. This, he confessed, was one of the worst nights of his career.
Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick,
including his 500th career goal, and wasn't even the star of the show at
the Nou Camp on Wednesday
Suarez (centre) struck four times for
the rampant Barca as Valencia were left to ponder an impossible deficit
at home in the second leg
Messi (left) and Suarez both congratulate each other after turning on the style and scoring seven goals between them
The ravenous duo walk away with their match balls after both netting hat-tricks for Barcelona in their 7-0 victory
Barcelona
scored seven unanswered goals - four for Luis Suarez, a hat-trick for
Lionel Messi - and only for some showboating, the final scoreline would
have reached double figures. Had that been the case, there could have
been no complaints. Barcelona were spellbinding.
Neville
had wanted to keep things tight, to make Barcelona work, but the task
was hopeless. This was the equivalent of someone trying to put a blaze
out in one area when an inferno was starting somewhere else. If it
wasn't Neymar casting spells down the left, Messi tormented Valencia
through the middle or Suarez ran amok from the right. For anyone else
other than Neville, this was a fiesta of football for the eyes.
Inevitably,
there were questions about whether he would offer his resignation -
'no' was the brusque reply - but that refusal to quit should not be
confused with realism. Neville knows he must win his first La Liga game
against Real Betis on Sunday.
'I
wish the Betis game started in 10 minutes,' said Neville. 'This is one
of the most painful experiences of my career. My positivity is immovable
but when you have moments like this it is not nice. I was standing out
there feeling helpless. I was trying to change it but I knew the tide
was against us.'
It
wasn't so much against them, more washing all over them. Suarez, the
best centre forward in the world, started this rout with a magnificent
finish, bent past Valencia keeper Mathew Ryan after Neymar had robbed
Andre Gomes, a player whom Neville holds in high regard, and sprinted 40
yards to free the Uruguayan.
Neymar
was the creator for goal No 2, cushioning a ball into Suarez's pass
after Sergio Busquets had spread play quite magnificently.
Then
Messi took over, scoring the third in the 28th minute after Neymar and
Suarez both outrageously dummied a ball from Andres Iniesta to leave him
clear, finishing with the nonchalance you would expect if this was a
training game.
Suarez wheels away after striking his first of the match inside the opening 10 minutes
Gary Neville and his brother Phil Neville sit helplessly in the dug out as their side is totally outclassed by Barca
Suarez slots away his 33rd goal of the
season as Barca take an early lead inside the opening 10 minutes of the
first leg of the semi-final
Three Valencia defenders watch Messi carefully, and ominously, as the little maestro makes his way into the penalty area
Messi strikes his first of the match, and Barcelona's third, after Andres Iniesta's ball was dummied by Suarez and Neymar
Messi grabs his side's fifth goal of the game against Valencia as they hit Neville's side for seven in their first-leg clash
A
fourth should have arrived before half-time but Neymar fluffed his
lines, striking a post from the penalty spot after Shkodran Mustafi had
professionally fouled Messi in the area as he shaped to shoot, earning
himself a red card in the process.
It
didn't matter. Messi added another after the interval following a
majestic back heel from Suarez that carved Valencia's defence wide open.
It marked the 500th goal of the Argentine maestro's career.
And
Messi's hat-trick was soon completed in the 74th minute, with one of
those trademark moments, when Messi picked up a loose ball, skipped past
two challenges and then thrashed a left-foot drive that zipped in at
the neat post.
Neville looks dejected as his side become one of many to be torn apart by a ravenous Barcelona at the Nou Camp
Messi speeds into the Valencia penalty area as German defender Shkodran Mustafi sticks out a hopeful right leg
Mustafi's challenge can only bring down Messi for a clear-cut penalty which also resulted in the defender being sent off
Referee Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva shows the red card to Mustafi (right) as the visitors' night goes from bad to worse
Mustafi (centre) pleads hopelessly with the official before Neymar prepares to step up and hit the post from the spot
But
there was still time for more as Suarez crowned a magnificent
performance by completing his hat-trick with a header before adding a
fourth with a thumping finish.
By
now the party was in full swing, with every feint and shuffle prompting
'oles'; the Camp Nou crowd was even able to give the biggest cheer of
the night to Denis Cheryshev, the winger Valencia signed on loan from
Real Madrid on deadline day. Cheryshev was, remember, the ineligible
player who Real Madrid fielded in this competition that triggered their
expulsion.
The
laughter could be heard all around but Neville's gait never changed.
Hands in the pockets, looking towards his own goal, knowing nothing he
did made the slightest difference. This was bad as he could ever have
imagined.
The Barcelona players celebrate as they all but secure their place in the next round with seven goals on their own patch
The Valencia players prepare for kick off after conceding yet another goal in the first leg of their Copa del Rey clash
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