FC Barcelona vs. Celta Vigo - Copa del Rey - Second Leg Review - Jan 11, 2018

Barcelona vs. Celta Vigo 5-0 Copa del Rey - Second Leg Review - Jan 11, 2018

With Celta holding a 2nd string Barca 1–1 in the first leg, Barca came off with the away goal advantage into the 2nd leg. The visiting Celta would have hoped for a positive performance, based on their recent form and performances.

But Valverde sent in his A team and it was a complete terminator like performance from Barcelona. Every Blaugrana player who featured in it were excellent.

The actual tie was over in the first 15 minutes with Messi scoring 2 goals, assisted by the ever happy to pass, Jordi Alba, who has come into his own, since the exit of Neymar. Its been an extremely fruitful partnership for FC Barcelona this season and the connection between the two is awesome. Both the goals were almost identical except that the 2nd one was started by Messi himself.

Messi returned the favour through a jaw-dropping pass which saw Jordi Alba score the third. Before half time, Suarez added to Celta’s woes. An awful Sisto back pass found Suarez and he made no mistake in finishing it off, making it 4–0. By half time it was game over and Celta looked down and out.

Iniesta, Messi and Pique were replaced in the 2nd half by Arnaiz, Dembele and Vermaelen. The Barca defence actually did not have too much of a problem as Celta was busier in their own half most of the time. The mid field held firm. Andre Gomes had a surprisingly good outing, which was a welcome change.

Dembele, returning from injury, gave a perfect pass towards the end of the game and the hovering Rakitic grabbed the opportunity to score a powerful header to make it 5–0 for FC Barcelona.

It was a five star performance in every way from FC Barcelona. They put up a fiery show for their new teammate Coutinho, who was all smiles , watching it from the stands with Rafinha.

It was also an emotional night as this might be the final match for Mascherano in Barca colors. This unassuming little guy was a leader and a pillar of strength, at the back, for Barca, for many years now. I will definitely miss the “Little Chief” immensely. All the very best “El Jefecito”. Thank you and Good Luck in your future endeavours.

Its sad that there is no live relay of the Copa del Rey games in India. Hopefully someone will be kind enough to get the rights soon. Till then we will have to be contend with live streaming.