Neymar salutes Barcelona attack of MSN (Messi, Suarez & Neymar)

Neymar saluted Barcelona's star-studded attack after he, along with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, put Elche to the sword in a 5-0 thrashing in the Copa del Rey at Camp Nou.

Barca went into the first-leg of their last-16 tie under scrutiny on the back of a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday, but responded in a manner that would have delighted and relieved coach Luis Enrique in equal measure.

Neymar opened the scoring with a close-range finish at the end of a slick passing move on 34 minutes, before Suarez doubled their lead five minutes later.

A Lionel Messi penalty put the Catalans out of sight at 3-0, before Jordi Alba added a fourth on 55 minutes. The Brazilian rounded off the scoring and hailed the firepower at the club's disposal.

He said: "We're all very happy to have scored [the forwards]. We played well and hopefully we can produce the same again in our next game."

The second leg is set to be played on January 15, but Barcelona's path to the quarter-finals is all but confirmed, barring an unlikely collapse next week.