Barcelona routs Valencia 7-0 in Copa del Rey semifinals

It isn’t often a current Real Madrid player gets a brilliant reception from Barcelona fans, but new Valencia recruit Cheryshev, who is on loan from Los Blancos, was given a sanding ovation by the Nou Camp when he made his debut from the bench.

Where he goes from here is unclear, but Valencia fans were angry at former coach Nuno when they were sat outside the top six earlier this season. Gary Neville’s first managerial experience is turning into a very hard period and with his side facing an impossible task to reach the Cup final, he needs to see them start winning in the league otherwise it may come to a premature end. To succeed, it will have to get past the hottest team in Spain, and the first step will be to survive Wednesday’s game at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona has won six in a row and has yet to lose this season.

“Positivity has been immovable in my life”, he said.

“I felt helpless, trying to change things in some way but knowing the tide of the game was against us”. “And when you play against a team like us, it is not easy for anyone”. The reality of me is that I last had doubts as a player 18 years ago and from that moment onwards I developed a mechanism to deal with moments like this. I’ve had some as a player and now I’ve had some as a manager.

Second placed Atletico Madrid, three points behind Barca, host Eibar on Saturday and Real Madrid, a point further back, travel to Granada on Sunday. “We apologise to our fans for one of the worst days and one of the worst results in our history”.

Neymar dispossessed Andre Gomes inside the Valencia half before playing through Suarez, who fired a low shot past Mathew Ryan in the Valencia goal.

It could have been even worse for Valencia as Neymar hit the post from the penalty spot after Shkodran Mustafi was sent-off for bringing down Messi inside the area. The Argentine legend added a third before the break before completing his hat-trick with 16 minutes left.

Aleix Vidal then cut-back Sergio Busquets’s ball over the top of the Valencia defence for Suarez to slam home his 33rd goal of the season five minutes later.

Luis Suarez, centre, celebrates with teammates Leo Messi, right, and Neymar.