Barça qualifies for the Copa del Rey semifinals, after eliminating a Valencia that repeated past mistakes. The Valencian fans progressively left the stadium, even in the first half, making it clear that this was not their match. Flick's team joins Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, and Atlético de Madrid for a semifinals that could bring us a new Clásico.
A scandalous thrashing
The ghosts of the past are very difficult to dispel, and Valencia can attest to that. The goal for the Valencian fans was to forget what had happened ten days ago, but before the 5th minute, they had already conceded a goal. The goal was scored by Ferran, with a prodigious assist from a Balde who is getting better and better.
The 'shark' was going to make it 0-2, taking advantage of a rebound after a great save by Dmitrievski from a shot by Lamine. This was not going to stop here, as Fermín scored the third after dribbling past the Macedonian goalkeeper. When the 30th minute was reached, Ferran completed his hat trick and made it 0-4 overall, having only shot 5 times on goal.
The match was very tough for a crowd that didn't hesitate to turn toward the box, even leaving the field half an hour into the game. Meanwhile, Flick's team was precise in space and accurate in delivering that final pass or shot. The favorable result allowed the German coach to bring in Íñigo Martínez and Gerard Martín, as both warmed up to come on in the second half.
A mere formality
After the break, Barça lowered its intensity partly due to the changes, although these didn't prevent them from scoring one more. This time the scorer was Lamine Yamal with a shot in which the Valencian goalkeeper failed, reaffirming that if something was going to go wrong, it would go worse. The best thing for the locals is that the bleeding stopped there, the visitors definitively lifted their foot off the accelerator, thus avoiding a more embarrassing defeat.
They could have scored the consolation goal, but Sadiq (who left the stadium to applause) was offside, and therefore, VAR would disallow the goal. Iván Jaime, the latest Valencian signing, made his debut, and the fans received him with applause, unlike Guillamón, who was booed. The next match for Córberan's team will be against Leganés, and the Catalans travel to Seville to close Sunday's matchday.
