Barcelona vs. Hercules: 2016 Spanish Copa Del Rey Leg 2 Score, Reaction

An Arda Turan hat-trick and Paco Alcacer’s first goal for Barcelona helped the team to a 7-0 win over Hercules at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, as they progressed into the last 16 of the Copa del Rey 8-1 on aggregate.

After being frustrated for much of the first period, Lucas Digne finally broke the deadlock for the holders in the 37th minute, turning home Rafinha’s mishit shot, while Ivan Rakitic’s penalty made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time.

Rafinha and Turan netted early in the second half, while Alcacer finally grabbed his first competitive Blaugrana goal in the 72nd minute. Turan, the standout player on the night, completed his trio of strikes with two fine late goals.

After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique opted not to include some star men in the squad for this showdown with their third-tier opponents; Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar sat this one out.

In the opening exchanges, the Blaugrana missed their influence, as the Hercules defence retreated to a compact shape on the edge of their area. It meant Barcelona had almost all of the ball, although for the first 30 minutes, they were limited to speculative strikes from distance.

As the first half continued with no sign of a breakthrough, 101 Great Goals were wondering if Hercules were capable of pulling off what’d be a remarkable upset:

Barcelona currently 1-1 with Hercules in the Copa. Upset on the cards? Christmas miracle? Probably not

— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) December 21, 2016

But after a half an hour of action, the Blaugrana upped the tempo, with Denis Suarez slaloming through the Hercules defence and hammering a shot into the side netting. The deadlock was broken not long after.

It wasn’t a classic Barcelona goal, admittedly, as …

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