Talk of a crisis at Barcelona was put on hold for 90 minutes as the Catalonians decisively defeated Elche 5-0 in the last 16 Copa del Rey first leg in front of a sparse crowd at the Camp Nou . The Barcelona front three all scored with Neymar collecting a brace, Luis Suárez scoring a goal, Lionel Messi converting a penalty and Jordi Alba adding a goal as Barcelona have all but booked their place in the Copa quarterfinals. Everyone was waiting to see if heavily scrutinized manager Luis Enrique would again bench Messi, but the Asturian boss instead restored the Argentine to the starting XI, along with Neymar and Suárez up top. The midfield took on a different look with Javier Mascherano pushed into a more forward role and joined by Sergi Roberto and Ivan Rakitic, while in defense Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra and Alba were tasked with protecting goalkeeper Marc André ter Stegen. It was all Barcelona at the start with the hosts applying the pressure on the six-man Elche defense. Alves, one of the benched players in the loss at Anoeta, nearly opened the scoring in sensational style in the 19th minute with a volley off a punched clearance from Elche stopper Tyton, but the strike drifted just wide. Eight minutes later it was Neymar almost connection after a superb chipped ball in from Messi, but the Brazilians effort floated wide of Tytons goal. Barcelona finally broke the deadlock in the 35th minute with some brilliant build-up play that ultimately ended with Suarez somehow slicing a ball through three Elche defenders to Neymar, who had an easy push into the net to make it 1-0 to Luis Enriques men. The goal eased tension off the shoulders of the Barcelona players, who endured a tumultuous week at the club, and just five minutes later the margin was doubled. Roberto played a ball into Suarez, who then made a move reminiscent of his time last season at Liverpool, with the Uruguayan taking a slight touch and spinning off a defender before slotting in a shot. Seconds before the break, Elche were whistled for a penalty as Enzo Rocco brought down Neymar in the area and Messi calmly converted the spot kick, much to the delight of the Camp Nou faithful who chanted his name. Messis genius playmaking continued into the second half as the Rosario native collected a ball outside the area and then played a diagonal ball past five Elche defenders and to the feet of Alba who smashed in a shot to give Barcelona a 4-0 lead. Moments before the hour mark Neymar made it 5-0 to the Catalonians as the Elche defense allowed the Brazilian far too much time and space over the ball and the shot from the former Santos man caromed off the backside of Rocco before going past Tyton and into the net. By the final ten minutes there was more of a battle in the stands, as different groups of supporters dueled with chants about the protagonists from the past few days. As soon as one group chanted for Luis Enrique, they were quickly drowned in whistles, followed by chants for Messi. However, on the field, Barcelona were on song and could take heart in their performance with their massive Sunday battle against Atlético Madrid looming on the horizon.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 09:31:36 +0000
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