Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 8y

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique felt bad for Gary Neville and Valencia

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique admitted he had felt sorry for opponents Valencia as his side all but ensured a second successive Copa del Rey final with a 7-0 victory in Wednesday evening's semifinal first leg.

There were four goals from Luis Suarez and a Lionel Messi hat trick. The final score could have been even more lopsided as Neymar missed a penalty against Gary Neville's woeful Valencia side, who were even worse after defender Shkodran Mustafi was sent off just before half-time.

Luis Enrique's opposite number maintained he would not resign following the embarrassing loss.

The result means that even ahead of next Wednesday's second leg at Mestalla, Barca are all but certainly through to face either Sevilla or Celta Vigo in the Copa final on May 21.

The blaugrana coach told his post-game news conference at the Camp Nou that he had not particularly enjoyed seeing Neville's team in such a difficult situation.

"Valencia are going through a difficult sporting situation and when you play against an opponent like us, it is not easy, not at all," Luis Enrique said. "It is not a nice situation, not even for us.

"I do not like to see opponents in this situation, it is not nice. We do our own job. All situations change, and for sure they will come out this."

Asked to pick out a factor or a player from the game to praise, Luis Enrique said he was just really happy generally with how his side had done.

"You have to congratulate the players and recognise that they are very good," he said. "We have a very important objective, to keep winning trophies and if possible to play good football and make our fans enjoy themselves.

"They were all good today, the three up front are uniquely effective, those in the centre interpreting the game and finding spaces. It would be unfair to single out any player. Even when Valencia had a player less, they did not sit back and think about future efforts, they went to close out the tie."

Even after the complete demolition of their opponents, Luis Enrique said he would be able to find things for his team to improve upon.

"For sure when we analyse the game, there will be things to improve," he said. "The players are very good, but they are not machines. There were some pressing situations where we made mistakes.

"I remember a couple of them. We were very superior, we made many chances, and we controlled the rhythm of the game. We hardly suffered in transitions, apart from their disallowed goal. I believe the 'cules' enjoyed themselves a lot."

The Feb. 10 second leg at Mestalla now looks likely to just bring more pain for Neville and Valencia. Luis Enrique said he and his team would approach the game as seriously as any other.

"I would say we will take the game in Valencia just as serious as any other game," he said. "There is no other objective than keep winning. That does not change with any result. First for the prestige of our club, and then for the standard of our players."

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