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| Arda celebrate goal against Hércules |
FC Barcelona qualified for the 2016/2017 Copa del Rey round of 16 and end 2016 in beautiful fashion as they destroyed Hércules 7-0 in the second leg of their Spanish Cup second leg Round of 32 tie with Arda Turan netting a hat-trick.
The Turkish star came under fire after his poor first season at the club but netted Barça’s 4th, 6th and 7th goal of the night to bag his second hat-trick of the season in all competitions. Defender Lucas Digne opened the scoring before Ivan Rakitic doubled Barça’s lead from the spot. Paco Alcácer got his first official goal for the club to make it 4-0 after Rafinha netted Barça’s third with a wonder. The win sees Barça qualify for the Round of 16 as they look to defend their crown.
Luis Enrique started an expected lineup after revealing the squad list without Messi, Suárez and Neymar. Jasper Cillessen started in goal with Aleix Vidal and Lucas Digne starting as fullbacks. Rafinha-Alcacer-Arda led the attack while Iniesta and Busquets were rested for a Rakitic-Gomes-Denis midfield.
Barça struggled at the start with the first 30 minutes very dry, Denis then got a shot on 31 minutes. Six minutes later, a loose Hércules defence allowes Digne to fire home his first goal for the club and make it 1-0, Rakitic converted a penalty on the stroke of halftime to make it 2-0.
Barça didn’t waste time in the second half as Rafinha made it 3-0 on 50 minutes with a powerful drive from outside the box after fantastic footwork by Arda. It was 4-0 five minutes later after Arda Turan did well to unleash a bullet header thanks to a fantastic cross by Aleix Vidal from the right.
Paco Alcácer then got his long awaited goal on 73 minutes after heading home a deflected cross from Rafinha. Alcácer almost grabbed his second later on but his powerful header was well saved by Hércules goalkeeper but Arda Turan was on hand to fire in the rebound. Turan got his third of the game with the goal of the game, curling home a great effort from the edge of the box to make it 7-0. Comfortable win, Barça qualifies into the next round.
