It was five and easy for Barcelona, as they crushed Levante 5-1 to move into the Copa Del Rey semi-finals 9-2 on aggregate.
The match was as good as over after their 4-1 victory in Valencia last week. Certainly, that was the way the Catalan fans felt. The stadium was barely a quarter full to watch what amounted to little more than a practise match.
Tata Martino rested key players like Lionel Messi but it made little difference as Levante were put to the sword yet again.
Surprisingly, it was the away side that took the lead. Vyntra headed the goal on 9 minutes, although it had a suspicion of the own goal about it. That woke Barca up, a dangerous thing to do. Adriana levelled on 28 minutes before captain Carlos Puyol grabbed his first of the season just before the break.
The second half was one way traffic, Barcelona hardly broke sweat as two goals in two minutes from Alexis Sanchez gave the scoreline a more realistic look. He was later sent from the field. Levante looked like they couldn’t wait to get off the rain lashed pitch as well, but there was one more goal for them to endure.
The ever influential Cesc Fabregas scored the fifth, a precision placement past the hopeless Levante keeper Javi Jiminez.
It was a rare start for Cristiano Tello, he will have been disappointed not to get on the scoresheet against such poor opposition. With Arsenal and Manchester United showing an interest, will he still be in the Barcelona colours by the time the semi final against Real Sociedad or Racing Santander arrives?
