Cordoba vs. Barcelona: Winners and Losers from La Liga
Barcelona thumped Cordoba by eight goals to nil on Saturday to go five points clear at the top of La Liga, while also confirming the home club's relegation back to La Segunda in the process—barring a ludicrously unlikely catalogue of occurrences, including a points deduction for Almeria.
For 40 minutes, Cordoba defended well, but they crumbled after Ivan Rakitic whacked in the opener, with Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scoring seconds either side of half-time. Suarez went on to complete his hat-trick, Messi added another and there were further goals for Neymar and Gerard Pique as Barcelona ran riot.
Here are all our winners and losers from the game.
Winner: Luis Suarez
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The irrepressible Luis Suarez is right on top of his considerable game for Barcelona, having a huge impact on the title run-in and their chase for three trophies after embarking on a scoring and assisting spree of late.
A first Liga hat-trick came against Cordoba and took his league haul to 16 for the season, despite missing those early months through suspension, and he continues to look a pivotal part of the team's method for attacking and linking up play with the midfield.
His work rate and movement are tremendous, and the confidence is flowing as freely as his goals.
Losers: Cordoba, Relegated
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Despite defending well for most of the first half, the first goal conceded broke Cordoba's spirit and resistance and, all told, this was a humbling way for them to depart La Liga after a miserable season.
Eight conceded, barely a flutter of a shot at the opposite end and a silent stadium for much of the second half, the shambolic season—which has seen three managers sitting in the home dugout—has not come to a happy end whatsoever.
In fairness, it was always likely to be the case—Cordoba finished seventh last season in the second tier, not even in a true playoff spot—but there are many lessons to learn for next time.
Winner: The Criticised Barcelona Midfield
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Barcelona's strikers scored six of the eight between them, but the midfield came up big for them in the game too.
It was once again a clever and deep run from Ivan Rakitic, well inside the box and beyond the forwards, that led to the opening goal of the match when the Cordoba defence was looking tough to breach. It was an important aspect of Barca's game in the early part of the season, and so it proved again on Saturday.
Andres Iniesta, meanwhile, has seen ridiculous questioning come his way after failing to register an assist in league play—as if all his work in deeper areas or earlier in construction of chances means nothing—but he clocked up his first of the campaign with a great ball for Luis Suarez's first goal.
Loser: Neymar's Finishing
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Brazilian forward Neymar netted a penalty, which he won himself, but he really should have had two or three goals in this game.
An awful miss from six yards on his left foot was the worst attempt, but he also got his timing wrong on other occasions, shooting into defenders or off target when a pass or more clinical edge from himself could have yielded more danger.
In general terms, Neymar played well, creating various openings for his team, but his shooting was definitely off on this occasion.
Winner: Luis Enrique, Still on for the Treble
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Luis Enrique opted for a full-strength team to take on the league's bottom club and was rewarded with the huge scoreline.
Clearly there was no chance the boss was going to risk a lowered performance level and dropping silly points, even with the Bayern Munich Champions League semi-final looming, and he got the second-half performance he would have wanted to see: tempo, confidence, goals, selfless play and, of course, the three points.
Barcelona continue on their search for silverware in all three competitions.
