Barcelona made quick work of Deportivo in what was initially seen as a tough away game by beating them 8-0 on Wednesday night. Goals from Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Lionel Messi, Marc Bartra and Neymar saw the Catalan club safe at the summit of La Liga for the time being.
Squads
Deportivo: Manu, Laure, Sidnei, Navarro, Juanfran, Mosquera, Alex, Borges, Cani, Riera, Lucas
Barcelona: Bravo, Alves, Bartra, Mascherano, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar, Suarez
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With Gerard pique suspended for this game and having to watch this game from the stands at the Estadio Municipal de Riazor, Luis Enrique started Marc Bartra alongside Javier Mascherano with Jeremy Mathieu out injured. Enrique had said he did not have a reason to criticise his team in spite of losing three consecutive matches. “I have nothing to criticise my team for,” he had said. “I think they have been doing the right things.”
Luis Suarez scores twice in 25 minutes
Deportivo were put to the sword in the early stages of the game with Suarez coming close to scoring an opener in the seventh minute. Iniesta managed to find Suarez with a through ball and the Uruguayan striker only managed to shoot just wide of the post.
However, Luis Suarez gave Barcelona the lead in the 11th minute from a corner kick. The ball was floated into the six-yard box and Suarez jostled with Sidnei to eventually use his left foot to good effect and find the net.
Although Sidnei protested with the referee after he felt he was shoved aside, the goal stood. It was the 900th goal in La Liga this season and also saw Suarez end his three-match goal scoring drought in the league.
Just 13 minutes later, Barcelona were up 2-0 thanks to a lovely pass from Messi. As Messi stationed himself between the lines, a quick pass was simply directed into the box with his first touch and Luis Suarez timed his run to perfection to get on the end of it and fire a shot past Manu Fernandez.
Suarez almost had a chance to complete his hat-trick in the first half itself when he tried to get on the end of a Dani Alves pass into the box off a cross. But as he tried to shoot, the ball fell behind him and he fell over trying to get a shot off.
Messi also had a chance to make it 3-0 when he was played in by Neymar with a through-ball on a counter-attack. Fernando Navarro slid in to make a last-ditch tackle and managed to get the ball before Messi was brought down. But despite his protests, the referee did not award a penalty.
Suarez completes his hat-trick in second half but doesn’t stop there
The visitors took no time in getting another goal as soon as the second half got underway. This time, Suarez turned provider as he chipped the ball across the box where Ivan Rakitic made a run in and finished with a first-time volley to make it 3-0. It was Barcelona’s 150th goal of the season.
But Luis Suarez eventually completed his hat-trick in the 53rd minute with Messi getting his second assist of the night. The Uruguayan striker beat the offside trap to latch on to Messi’s through-ball and took a shot first time to beat Manu for the third time in the game.
The game saw end-to-end action with even Deportivo coming close at the other end despite the action in Manu’s goal. Lucas Perez managed to find his way into the box with a run to receive a pass only for Bartra to stick his leg out to clear the ball.
But Luis Suarez was hungry for more and managed to score his fourth goal of the game. Messi and Neymar combined brilliantly to find Suarez who only needed to tap into an empty net but Laure Ruiz did just enough to block his first effort by throwing himself in front of Suarez. But the rebound fell kindly to the striker and he made no mistake with his second effort as Manu scrambled to save the shot and failed.
Lionel Messi then got on the scoresheet when Suarez, having one of the best games of the season, provided yet another assist. A side-footed first time finish that bisected both defenders found the back of the net with the goalkeeper committed to preventing Suarez from getting another. It was Messi’s 12th goal against Deportivo having scored in the last seven games against them.
By now Deportivo were being carved open time and again. So much so that even Marc Bartra made a solo run to make it 7-0. Although he looked like he had scuffed his shot, he managed to find the bottom corner as he fell over in the box.
Neymar then made it 8-0 with a fine finish – again from a Suarez pass. A counter-attack saw Suarez run towards the right post and then slide the ball to the Brazilian forward at the far post. Neymar delayed his shot to evade the goalkeeper and fired it home to complete the rout and send a message to the rest of La Liga.
