Barcelona skated home last night in an emphatic 4-0 win over Elche in La Copa del Rey with a second string team. With a 5-0 advantage, Luis Enrique pulled his big guns and let the youngsters have a go.
Enrique left his trio of attackers Neymar, Messi and Suárez out of the clash and effectively the Barça B team brought home the goods for the manager. Goals came courtesy of Jeremy Mathieu and Sergi Roberto in the first half with Pedro and Adriano adding another brace which saw the end result in a 4-0 battering for the minnows.
Gerard Gumbau and Alen Halilovic made their debuts last night and they are just two of the seven youngsters Luis Enrique has used during his tenure. So hats off to the manager for using the youth in his squad and giving them an opportunity to shine.
On the other hand, Real Madrid succumbed to a pugnacious Atlético Madrid and Fernando Torres scored both of his team’s goals.The first half was madness as Real Madrid cornered Atlético but couldn’t find a way through.
Real Madrid’s goals came from Sergio Ramos after 20 minutes and Cristiano Ronaldo after 54 minutes. Torres scored just after the starting whistle and immediately put Real on the back foot. Ramos then equalised but Torres got control back for Atlético on 46 minutes. CR7 then equalised to make it 2-2 but the damage had already been done in the first leg.
Barcelona now face Atlético Madrid in the quarter finals and although they are coming from a 9-0 thumping of Elche over two legs, something tells me that facing Diego Simeone’s men will be a different ball game!
