Coming off their disappointing 2-0 league defeat at Mestalla to Valencia which saw them abdicate their top spot to Real Madrid, Setien and Barcelona decided to put their past behind them and build towards what's coming. The fans were angry and the entire coaching crew spareheaded by the newly signed Setien are not unaware of the need to pacify their supporters, perhaps buy a little time to douse the tension ahead of their Champions league campaign and Laliga pursuit. Thursday evening saw the Blaugrana playing at high altitude as Setien unleached his full arsenal against Leganes in their Round of 16 Copa del rey encounter. The game which ended 5-0 in Favour of the catalan giants saw Setien heave a sigh of relief. The pressure on the former Real Betis coach is high, especially having taken over the team mid into the season (the exact reason or one of the major reasons Xavi Hernandez declined the offer). You will recall that Barcelona had to come from behind to eliminate a lower division side Ibiza in the previous round, after being down with one goal for over an hour or thereabout, thanks to the late brace by Grizemann which saw Barca progress to the round of 16. Setien who had rested his key players(including Messi) against Ibiza in preparation for Valencia few days later, saw his team almost dumped out of the competition, so he couldn't take any chance against Leganes, hence the result.
With Zidane's Los Blancos having mount the top of the table with 46 points (Barca have 43), the Catalan giants cannot afford to get dumped out of Copa del Rey to keep their chances of winning a trebble this season alive. It's just three points behind Madrid, that isn't a big problem as they can still catch up with their rivals and even topple them. Just like in Setien's first match against Granada as a Barcelona coach, he will no doubt be grateful to his captain Lionel Messi who made his job easier by being his lethal self against Leganes. The Argentine maestro and Barca's best player in history was sublime, as he fired the team to a convincing victory on Thursday. The Argentine captain who netted a brace for his side in their 5-0 victory was on the headlines again as usual, as he just completed his 500th win as a Barca player, making him the first player in Spanish football history to reach that milestone. The 32 year old have played 710 games so far for the catalan giants and it looks like he will be increasing the numbers in subsequent games. The brace against Leganes made it 20 goals for Messi this season and the Argentine have the chance of adding to that tally when they welcome Levante to the Camp Nou on Sunday.
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