Messi, Suarez hat-tricks as Barcelona hit Valencia 7-0

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick and Luis Suarez four goals as Barcelona piled more misery on Valencia boss Gary Neville to take an unassailable 7-0 lead in their Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg at the Camp Nou on Wednesday.

The Cup had been Neville’s solace since replacing Nuno Espirito Santo in December, but Valencia were blown away by a Barca side back to their best and on the verge of a fifth final in six seasons.

Neymar showed his performances continue to be unaffected by off-field problems as he drove at the Valencia defence before playing in Suarez to fire past Matt Ryan into the far corner.

Aleix Vidal then cut-back Sergio Busquets’s ball over the top of the Valencia defence for Suarez to slam home his second of the night.

Messi was left with the simple task of slotting in his first of the evening from close range after great work by Andres Iniesta and Suarez just before the half-hour mark.

Valencia were happy to get to the break just three down as Messi then hit the bar from Suarez’s brilliant low cross before the Argentine was clipped by Mustafi as he bore down on goal.

Neymar was over-confident with his one-step run-up, though, as his penalty came back off the post.

Messi latched onto Suarez’s lovely backheel to make it 4-0 and then completed his hat-trick with a fierce effort that slipped through Ryan’s grasp.

Suarez rounded off the scoring as he powered home a header from Adriano’s cross and fired in a low shot at the near post two minutes from time for his 35th goal this season.

Source: Reuters