January 02, 2026 04:55 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
New Year horror in Switzerland: Dozens feared dead in Crans-Montana bar explosion | Tobacco stocks crushed as govt slaps fresh excise duty from Feb 1 | Vodafone Idea shares explode 10% after surprise settlement and govt relief boost | No third party involved: India govt sources refute China’s Operation Sindoor ceasefire claim | Amit Shah blasts TMC over border fencing; Mamata fires back on Pahalgam and Delhi blast | 'A profound loss for Bangladesh politics': Sheikh Hasina mourns Khaleda Zia’s death | PM Modi mourns Khaleda Zia’s death, hails her role in India-Bangladesh ties | Bangladesh’s first female Prime Minister Khaleda Zia passes away at 80 | India rejects Pakistan’s Christmas vandalism remarks, cites its ‘abysmal’ minority record | Minority under fire: Hindu houses torched in Bangladesh village

Messi scores twice as Barca brush past Leganes in Copa del Rey

| @indiablooms | Jan 31, 2020, at 10:29 am

Madrid/Xinhua/UNI: FC Barcelona produced their most convincing performance since Quique Setien took over as first team coach to enter quarterfinals of the Spanish Copa del Rey with a 5-0 win at home to Leganes.

Although Leganes, who are currently second from bottom of the Liga Santander, helped the Barca cause with a display that implied they were more interested in their weekend league game than the last eight of the cup, Setien's side looked more direct than in their previous three games, with Leo Messi once again their most decisive player.

Setien switched his system from his preferred 3-1-4-2 to a more conventional 4-3-3, which suited full backs Nelson Semedo and Jordi Alba far more than the previous system.

Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring in the fourth minute after finishing a pass from Semedo, who had been put into space by Leo Messi.
Although Leganes produced a timid reaction, Barca doubled their lead when Clement Lenglet flicked home a Messi corner midway through the first half.
The second half saw Barca control the ball and although they were moving it slowly Messi assured the win in the 59th minute after taking a pass from Frenkie de Jong.

Arthur Melo added a fourth, sliding the ball home after Leganes keeper Pichu Cuellar saved from Ansu Fati and Messi's shot was then cleared off the line.
Messi got his second goal off the night in the penultimate minute after being put through by Ivan Rakitic to seal a result that should calm some nerves at the club, at least until the weekend.

Barca join Athletic Club, Real Sociedad, Real Madrid, Valencia, Villarreal and Granada in Friday's tough looking quarter-final draw with the last place going to the winner of Thursday's late kick off between Mirandes and Sevilla.  

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.