Luis Suarez continued his fine form with a stunning hat-trick as
Barcelona took another step towards winning La Liga with an 8-0 win away
at Cordoba.
The game was goalless until Ivan Rakitic's 37th-minute opener, which
saw Cordoba's resilience quickly crumble, as Suarez made it 2-0 to the
visitors soon after.
Messi added his 50th goal of the season across all competitions just
after the restart and Suarez doubled his tally seven minutes later,
before Gerard Pique headed in the fifth with 63 minutes played.
Messi netted his second with a tap-in 10 minutes from time, before
Neymar and Suarez rounded off another stunning performance from Barca,
with the Uruguayan clinching his hat-trick and relegating Cordoba in
humiliating fashion.
Despite the fact Bayern Munich await in the Champions League
semi-finals next week, Luis Enrique surprisingly opted against resting
key players and named arguably his strongest starting XI.
The away side were in complete control of proceedings right from the
start, though Cordoba initially looked resolute at the back, keeping
Messi, Suarez and Neymar at bay.
Cordoba's defence began to show signs of frailty in the 27th minute,
as Messi weaved through in stunning style, skipping past four challenges
before dragging a tame finish straight at Juan Carlos in the hosts'
goal.
But Barca's patience finally paid off soon after.
Once again Messi was the architect, clipping a delightful delivery
into the left side of the area for Rakitic, who brought the ball down
and smashed an unstoppable half-volley into the roof of the net.
And their second followed swiftly on the stroke of half-time, Suarez
racing on to Andres Iniesta's cross and guiding the ball beyond the
helpless Juan Carlos.
Messi eventually got his name on the scoresheet in the first minute
of the second half, arriving late in the penalty area before guiding a
precise header into the bottom-left corner.
Cordoba's heads dropped and Barca continued to pile forward
ruthlessly, opening up a four-goal lead in the 53rd minute, as Suarez
glanced Dani Alves' right-wing cross in off the post with his head.
The visitors were completely dominant and added their fifth just
after the hour mark, Pique rising highest to meet Rakitic's corner and
nod in.
After a 15-minute respite for Cordoba, Messi tapped in following good
work from Suarez, while Neymar netted an 85th-minute penalty after he
had been hauled down.
There was still time for Suarez to add to an already embarrassing day
for Cordoba, the Uruguay star knocking into an open net after pouncing
on a blocked shot two minutes from time, wrapping things up and
sending a warning shot to Bayern.
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