Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with a thumping 6-1 victory over Sevilla at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening.
With a 2-0 deficit heading into the second-leg, Ernesto Valverde’s men wasted no time in getting to business as Phillipe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic bagged in the first-half. Coutinho got another minutes after the break, with Sergi Roberto also managing to get on the scoresheet less than a minute later. Guilherme Arana threatened to make the tie interesting in the 67th minute as he struck for Sevillla.
However, further goals from Barca stalwarts Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi rounded off an emphatic victory for the hosts.
Penalty problems
Despite the huge victory at the Camp Nou, Pablo Machin’s Sevilla side gave their hosts a huge helping hand as Quincy Promes took down Lionel Messi in the box with just over ten minutes on the clock. Coutinho was the man to step up and he sent a clinical penalty right into the corner to give Barca the start that they craved.
The visitors then had their own opportunity from the spot as Roque Mesa was this time hauled down in the penalty area. Ever Banega assumed responsibility but could not beat Jasper Cillessen in the home goal, leaving the Camp Nou to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Barca complete the comeback
That opportunity would come back to bite Sevilla as the hosts doubled their lead soon after. Brazilian midfielder Arthur released Rakitic with an excellent through ball. The Croatian was then one-on-one with Juan Soriano and poked the ball underneath the goalkeeper to level the tie on aggregate.
It got much worse for the visitors just after the break as Suarez’s cross was enough to find former Liverpool teammate Coutinho. The Brazilian leapt and directed his header into the bottom corner to edge the Copa del Rey holders into the lead on aggregate for the first time.
The hosts did not let up their momentum though and this time it was the turn of Roberto. Messi did brilliantly to cut in from the right and play a teasing ball into the path of the Spaniard. Unfazed, he then dispatched a thunderous effort across the Sevilla goalkeeper to get the hosts’ fourth on the night.
Hope for Sevilla?
Despite the unerring Barca pressure, the visitors did eventually find themselves on the scoresheet. Cillessen failed to deal with a clever ball into the box and Banega capitalised by cutting the ball back to Arana in the penalty area. The defender wasted no time as he thundered an unforgiving effort straight into the net.
That only served to motivate Valverde’s even more as they hit two late strikes to wrap up the victory. First, Jordi Alba crossed towards Suarez and it was an easy task for the Uruguayan as he turned the ball into the net with a pretty simple finish.
The final goal really was a thing of beauty. Suarez played a quick one-two with Gerard Pique before playing the ball into Alba. The Spaniard dummied the pass, taking it to Messi. The Argentine took one touch to control and powered the ball into the Sevilla net to round off a brilliant night for the Catalans.
Final Thoughts
Put simply, Barcelona were brilliant. Sevilla were blown away by their hosts and simply did not have an answer for their considerable attacking power. Once the hosts got level, their only seemed to be one direction in which the result was heading. However, Machin’s troops will be rueing their huge opportunity from the penalty spot that gave the hosts the motivation that they needed to reach the final four.
Match Report
Barcelona: Cillessen (7); Alba (7), Lenglet (6), Pique (7), Roberto (8); Rakitic (7) (Vidal (N/A), 76′), Busquets (7), Arthur (7) (Alena (N/A), 90′); Messi (8), Suarez (8), Coutinho (8) (Semedo (N/A), 81′).
Sevilla: Soriano (4); Gomez (5), Kjaer (5), Carrico (4); Arana (6) (Salvatierra (N/A), 84′), Mesa (6) (Ben Yedder (N/A), 77′), Amadou (5), Banega (6) (Vazquez (N/A), 77′), Promes (4); Sarabia (5), Silva (4).
Goals: Coutinho PEN (13′), Rakitic (31′), Coutinho (53′), Roberto (54′), Arana (67′), Suarez (89′), Messi (90+2′)
Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez
Yellow Cards: Suarez (30′), Mesa (30′), Carrico (34′), Gomez (72′)
Red Cards: N/A
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