Barcelona eased their crisis-ridden week with a comprehensive 5-0 thrashing of Elche to all but seal their place in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
Despite the speculation surrounding his future in recent days, Lionel Messi captained the side on his return to the starting lineup and scored from the penalty spot after goals from Neymar and Luis Suarez had already put the hosts in command.
Jordi Alba added a fourth after the break, before Neymar rounded off the scoring in style with a powerful long-range drive.
Photo: Reuters
Barring a meltdown in the return leg on Thursday next week, Barca will face the winners of the tie between Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid in the last eight.
“I don’t speak about what happens in the dressing room,” Neymar said when asked about a reported breakdown in communications between Messi and coach Luis Enrique.
“I am happy with how the game went for me and the team. We took a big step forward. I am happy for Messi and Suarez too. Now we need to do the same against Atletico [tomorrow],” he said.
Photo: Reuters
Messi and Neymar were among eight changes made by under-fire coach Enrique from the side that lost 1-0 at Real Sociedad last Sunday.
The two South American stars looked keen to make a point to their boss from the off and Neymar was unlucky to see a penalty appeal turned down 10 minutes in when he was bumped to the ground by Damien Suarez.
Dani Alves was then centimeters away from a spectacular opener as he returned a punch from Elche goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton back toward goal from long range, but the ball flew just wide.
Photo: EPA
Neymar also came close when he lifted a wonderful pass by Messi over the onrushing Tyton, only to see the ball fly just beyond the far post.
However, Barca finally made the breakthrough 11 minutes before halftime when an enticing low cross by Luis Suarez was smashed home at the far post by Neymar.
The Uruguayan found the net himself moments later with a brilliant individual effort as he rolled his marker, before cutting inside and fooling Tyton with a near-post finish.
Messi’s name was chanted regularly by the sparse Camp Nou crowd in a sign of support after a difficult few days for all at the club and he added his name to the score sheet from the penalty spot after Neymar had been upended by Enzo Roco.
The one-way traffic continued after the break as another sumptuous pass from Messi freed Alba inside the penalty area to fire low past Tyton to make it 4-0.
Yet, the best was still to come from Enrique’s men when Neymar cut inside onto his favored right foot and thumped home his second of the night off the underside of the bar from long range.
The Brazilian was denied the chance to grab his second hat-trick of the season, though, when he was replaced by Pedro Rodriguez with 23 minutes remaining after suffering another heavy challenge from Damien Suarez.
In the other first-leg match, Kevin Gameiro scored a goal and created another for Sevilla as they beat Granada 2-1.
“It was important to win away, even though their last-minute goal complicates things for us, I still think it’s a good result,” Sevilla forward Gerard Deulofeu said. “We’ll have to kill it off at home at the [Estadio Ramon] Sanchez Pizjuan.”
Deulofeu passed to Gamerio whose shot rebounded off the post and landed back in Deulofeu’s path for the first goal in the 32nd minute.
Granada missed a chance just before halftime when midfielder Manuel Iturra’s cross pinpointed striker Isaac Success on the penalty spot, but Success headed it over the crossbar.
Gameiro took advantage of a defensive mix-up in Granada’s penalty area to tap in Ever Banega’s well-placed free-kick in the 53rd minute.
Lass Bangoura pulled one back on his Granada debut on loan from Rayo Vallecano de Madrid when his free-kick went straight through the Sevilla wall in stoppage-time.
“I’m happy to have scored that goal, although Sevilla were playing very well,” Bangoura said. “We’ve lost and now we’ll have to wait for the return leg.”
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