Valencia, sitting second-to-last in the Spanish league and enduring an off-the-field crisis related to fan protests against Singaporean owner Peter Lim
Ferran Torres (File Pic)
Ferran Torres scored a hat trick in the first half hour to lead Barcelona to another rout of Valencia and a spot in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey on Thursday.
Torres scored in the third, 17th and 30th minutes in Barcelona's 5-0 win at Valencia.
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Fermin López scored in the 23rd and Lamine Yamal in the 59th for the Catalan club, which less than two weeks ago had handed Valencia a 7-1 rout at home in the Spanish league.
"We thought it was going to be a very difficult game but we were lucky enough to score early," said Torres, a former Valencia and Manchester City forward.
"That's what got them down. I wish them all the luck, I hope they escape relegation because I'm just another fan. It's hard to see the club of your life suffer like this. They're having a really bad time."
Valencia, sitting second-to-last in the Spanish league and enduring an off-the-field crisis related to fan protests against Singaporean owner Peter Lim, was runner-up to Real Betis in the Copa in 2021-22.
Barcelona hadn't made it to the Copa semifinals since being eliminated by Real Madrid in 2022-23. It last won the competition in 2020-21.
The Catalan club has outscored its opponents 26-11 in its last seven matches across all competitions.
Sociedad advances
Real Sociedad eliminated Osasuna for the second straight season with a 2-0 victory.
Ander Barrenetxea and Brais Méndez scored first-half goals to give Sociedad the home victory against an Osasuna team that played a man down from the 35th when Alejandro Catena was sent off with a straight red card after video review intervened.
Sociedad was already ahead 2-0 when Catena was sent off.
Sociedad had won by the same score at Osasuna in the round of 16 last season. It hadn't made it to the last four since it won its third Copa title in 2019-20. Osasuna was runner-up to Real Madrid in 2022-23.
On Wednesday, Real Madrid edged Leganes 3-2 with a stoppage-time goal by 20-year-old Gonzalo García. Atletico Madrid had become the first team to reach the semifinals when it routed Getafe 5-0 at home Tuesday.
In the last quarterfinal on Thursday, Barcelona will visit Valencia.
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