Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick and Luis Suarez scored four as Barcelona blew 10 man Valencia away. 

A dominant first half display sees Blaugrana on top at the break

The home side netted three goals before the 30-minute mark to give them a very comfortable lead early on in the two-legged tie.

Two goals from Luis Suarez and one from Lionel Messi put Barcelona ahead against Valencia.

Not only did Barca dominate the scoreline, but also the statistics, at half time they had a commanding 72% possession as well as eight shots. The first 3 resulted in the ball ending up in the back of the net.

Suarez opened the scoring seven minutes into the game when Neymar Jr put the Uruguayan beyond the Valencia defence and the striker finished it well, driving the ball into the bottom corner and past Mathew Ryan.

Five minutes later Suarez doubled his side’s lead after Sergio Busquets wonderfully lofted the ball over the away teams back four. Aleix Vidal pulled the ball back toward the edge of the box and Suarez powerfully finished the ball into the top corner.

Messi then got on the scoreboard after Neymar beautifully back heeled the ball to the Argentine who then slotted the ball past Ryan.

Los Che didn’t trouble Barcelona until the 41st minute when a low Guillerme Siqueira corner was met at the near post by Dani Parejo who could only loop the ball over the bar.

Messi could have doubled his goal tally when he rattled the cross bar after a quick counter attack, but then a controversial moment occurred when Valencia skipper Shkodran Mustafi was adjudged to have fouled Lionel Messi inside the box.

The German defender was shown a straight red by referee Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva and Neymar stepped up to take the penalty but failed to add to the scoreline as he rattled the post.

Messi and Suarez score a hat-trick each to seal the deal

Into the second half and Valencia thought they had pulled a goal back when Rodrigo scored off a Denis Cheryshev pass, but the Spanish attacker was ruled to have been offside.

After a quick start in the first half, it took until the 59th minute for Barcelona to add a fourth goal of the night and it was Messi who got his second of the night.

Messi scored after a delightful backheel from Suarez put the Argentine through who skipped past challenges from Jose Luis Gaya and Aderlan Santos and then Messi buried the ball beyond Maty Ryan.

The four-time Ballon d’Or winner then rounded off his hat-trick when Dani Parejo failed to clear the ball and Messi dispossessed him before beating Ryan at his near post with a low and powerful shot.

MSN celebrate together after Lionel Messi scored his hat-trick (Image: La Liga)
MSN celebrate together after Lionel Messi scored his hat-trick (Image: La Liga)

Seven minutes before the end Suarez finally got his hat-trick after numerous attempts, this time Adriano crossed the ball toward the back post and the Barcelona striker leapt over Ruben Vezo to header the ball into the back of the net.

Neymar nearly got on the score sheet late on when he had a shot blocked by an oncoming Valencia defender, but Luis Suarez scored the final goal of the night when he was put through by Arda Turan, Suarez shot first time and the ball clipped the near post and nestled in the net.

A massive 7-0 victory for Barcelona who have now surely secured passage to the Copa del Rey final, unless Valencia can pull off a miraculous turn around next week at Mestalla.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Ayden Hussain
I am a Sports Journalism at UCLan and I have been football mad since a young age, following Manchester United and Valencia.