Barcelona take a page out of Zidane's book to seal Copa del Rey win

Barcelona's dominance at the Nueva Condomina stadium was to be expected as the second-tier side welcomed La Liga champions with several changes in their starting lineup.

However, Ernesto Valverde's men were met by a tough and well-organised opposition who were always willing to surprise the Catalans on the break. And it was the hosts who had the first sight on goal despite not seeing much of the ball in the opening stages, as Orfila's header whistled inches past Cillessen's right post.

No clear-cut chances came Barcelona's way until Vermaelen, who was making his first start of the season, mistimed a header in Murcia's box and sent the ball away from the danger area when Barca thought they had found the breakthrough.

The Catalans created little danger, mainly down the right flank through Deulofeu, as they passed the ball around predictably enough for Murcia to defend at ease. The home side found space on the counterattack but Llorente fired over before Elady's effort was saved by the Barca keeper.

There was no sense of panic from the hosts, who remained calm before turning up the heat in the final minutes of the first period. Alcacer's initial header was palmed away by the keeper and Denis Suarez skied his effort, before the former Valencia striker buried a header past Santome.

Deulofeu was the provider as Barcelona opened the scoring and he wreaked havoc after the break as he skipped past his marker and slid the ball under the keeper to double his team's lead. Just moments later, Jose Arnaiz grabbed the third when he cut in from the left and fired past Santome into the bottom right corner. It was game over.

The away side, having increased the gap to shake off the pressure, began to enjoy themselves and Valverde introduced new faces for the final minutes, even handing Cucurella his first-team debut.

The home side never let up in their efforts going forward, cheered on by the home crowd who were thankful to their players after the referee blew the final whistle, despite the adverse result going into the second leg at the Camp Nou.