Ferran Torres fired a first-half hat trick as Barcelona crushed Valencia 5-0 at the Mestalla, breezing into the Copa del Rey semifinals.
Despite Hansi Flick's caution against expecting another rout after last month’s 7-1 La Liga thrashing, Barca delivered a near-identical masterclass, netting four times in the opening half-hour.
Torres, restored to the starting XI, stunned the home crowd with a goal inside three minutes, doubled the lead soon after, and watched as Fermin Lopez added a third before completing his own treble.
The former Manchester City forward completed his hat trick in the 30th minute, and Lamine Yamal scored a fifth on the hour as Barcelona extended its unbeaten run in 2025 to 10 games in all competitions.
Both managers made expected changes ahead of a busy weekend of league action.
Wojciech Szczesny started in goal for Barcelona, and Torres led the attack as Robert Lewandowski was among those rested. Dani Olmo, returning from a calf strain, was on the bench.
The atmosphere at the Mestalla was electric before kickoff, but the home fans were soon silenced when Torres gave Barcelona an early lead.
Alejandro Balde broke free down the left and delivered a superb ball across the Valencia backline for Torres, who ran onto it and guided a shot past goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
Barcelona continued on the front foot and doubled its lead in the 17th minute.
Raphinha collected a pass on the edge of the area and spun to lay it off to Yamal on the right.
His low strike was deflected onto the post by Dimitrievski’s outstretched boot – only for the ball to bounce off the post and back to Torres, who lashed it into the bottom left corner.
Initially ruled out for offside, the goal was awarded following a VAR review.
Any hopes of a comeback faded when Lopez made it 3-0 in the 23rd minute, collecting a ball into the box from Pedri with a deft touch around Dimitrievski and slotting it into an empty net.
Barcelona added a fourth on the half-hour as Torres completed his hat trick, sweeping in a low shot from the edge of the penalty area after a knockdown from Raphinha.
Some home fans had seen enough, heading for the exits, while those who stayed waved white handkerchiefs in protest at another collapse from Carlos Corberan’s side, which sits second from bottom in La Liga.
In a rare bit of action around the Barcelona penalty box, Valencia midfielder Pepelu sent a 20-yard volley over the crossbar.
Valencia saw a goal from Umar Sadiq ruled out for offside soon after the restart, summing up the home side’s night.
Yamal continued to cause problems down the right, hitting the post from the edge of the area before his low, angled shot took a deflection past Dimitrievski to make it 5-0 on the hour.
With 20 minutes left, Valencia substitute Ivan Jaime had a close-range effort ruled out for offside in the buildup.
Olmo, who replaced Raphinha just after the hour, nearly got on the scoresheet as well, but Dimitrievski reacted quickly to make a smart save.
