Luis Enrique says Barcelona players should be celebrated

Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique lauded his players after their stunning 7-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first-leg victory over a 10-man Valencia on Wednesday.

Barca continued their pursuit of back-to-back trebles with an emphatic victory, with Luis Suarez scoring four times and Lionel Messi netting a hat-trick.

Luis Enrique was thrilled by the performance at the Camp Nou, which all but seals a place in the final after Gary Neville’s visitors were overpowered – even before Shkodran Mustafi’s red card with the score already at 3-0.

“What my players did in this game should be celebrated,” he said.

“We have to congratulate the players. They have all played well, with effectiveness up front.

“They should be celebrated for the great players they are. We have an objective and that is to win trophies again. If we can delight the fans – even better.

“The three forwards have been unstoppable in many matches and they were effective again here. But the midfielders also interpreted the game really well and our opponents didn’t have options to win.

“We are going to take the second leg as seriously as any other match and we also want to win that. The aim is to keep winning and that would not have changed whatever this result was.”