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, but they were limited to speculative strikes from distance for the first 30 minutes.

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

But after 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 Rafinha skewed an effort into the path of the advanced Digne; the left-back made the most of his good fortune to prod home. Per ESPN FC’s Samuel Marsden, it took a long time for a new player to find the net in 2016-17 for the Catalan club:

As is often the case in this sort of contest, Hercules suddenly had nothing to defend, and Barca were emboldened. So it was no surprise to see the advantage doubled before the break.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

Turan was felled by Fernando Roman in the area, with the referee pointing to the penalty spot. Rakitic's kick wasn’t the truest, although it made its way under Hercules goalkeeper Ivan Buigues, but it was the last of the half, as Barca went in 2-0 up at the break.

After half-time, Barca started to turn on the style and, in particular, Turan. In the 50th minute, he left three Hercules defenders standing, before the ball made its way out to the edge of the box. There, Rafinha steadied himself before finishing emphatically with his left foot.

Per OptaJose, the Brazil international was having a big impact on the contest:

Five minutes later, Turan was on the scoresheet, as the visitors’ resistance started to show cracks. The Turkey international was able to head home easily after a fine cross to put this one beyond any doubt.

With the game over, all eyes were on one man to find the back of the net—Alcacer. And having failed to score in a competitive game since moving from Valencia in the summer, he finally netted for Barcelona 18 minutes from time.

JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images

Rafinha was involved once again, as his cross deflected perfectly for Alcacer at the back post. The underfire striker then had the simple task of heading home from close range, although there was a slight suspicion of offside. Per OptaJose, the goal had been a long time coming:

There was still time for Turan to weave his magic in the dying embers of the game. With four minutes left, he rocketed a loose ball home to grab Barcelona's sixth and his second, before the former Atletico Madrid man completed his hat-trick with panache.

Indeed, his third was the goal of the evening, as Turan picked the ball up on the edge of the box and whipped a delicious strike beyond the goalkeeper; he's now netted an impressive 11 goals in all competitions this season.

Barca’s progress was never in doubt despite the early resistance of the visitors. Hercules acquitted themselves well overall throughout the two legs, although the quality of the Liga champions was always going to tell.

Given the key matches that will inevitably come towards the end of the campaign, Enrique would have been watching a lot of fringe players carefully to see who is ready to contribute on a bigger stage. Turan will feel as though he has made a case to be more frequently involved.