After 30 minutes it was already 4-0, and in the end it was 5-0 on the scoreboard: Barcelona easily overcame the hurdle of Valencia and advanced to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. Ferran Torres excelled against his former club with a hat-trick.
A week and a half before the quarter-finals, the sides had already met in La Liga, with devastating consequences for the Valencia side, who were fighting against relegation: the Catalans ran out 7-1 winners. This time, it should go better for “Los Ches” in front of their home crowd – or so they thought.
Instead, the first fans were already leaving the Mestalla after 30 minutes of play, while others converted their handkerchiefs into white flags. Thanks to a hat-trick from Ferran Torres (3rd, 17th, 30th) and a goal from Fermin Lopez (23rd), the scoreboard already showed 4-0. The game was over before it even really started.
Barca furious: 4-0 after 30 minutes
And that was mainly because Valencia’s defense repeatedly invited the Catalans to score in the same way: Barca’s attackers were repeatedly served with delayed runs behind the back five with a high ball in the dangerous zone, only after Ferran Torres’ 4-0 did the home side drop deeper – and at least managed to keep their own goal safe in the last 15 minutes of the first half.
The efficiency of the Flick team in the first half was almost frightening: five shots on target, four goals. In return, the Catalans took their foot off the gas a little after the restart, while Valencia remained dogged by bad luck: a Sadiq goal (48th) and a penalty (52nd) in favor of the attacker were both whistled back because of an offside position.
Lamine Yamal seals the win
Instead, Lamine Yamal turned up, hitting the post first (54′) and then, with a little help from Dimitrievski, getting on the scoresheet himself (59′). The final score remained 5-0 as the Catalans played on the back foot, another Valencia goal was disallowed for offside (73′) and Olmo missed the 6-0 (77′), allowing FC Barcelona to reach the semi-finals in commanding fashion.
Barca’s next game is on Sunday at 9 p.m. when they face Sevilla away from home. Valencia are in the relegation battle and face Leganes at home at 4:15 p.m. on the same day.
