“This was one of my most painful days in football. They happen, I had some as a player, now as a manager. When you give the ball away close to your own goal, like we did three times in the first 15 minutes, you get punished.
“The Valencia fans did not deserve that and I feel most for them because obviously it’s been their club for their whole lives and they’ve suffered really badly.”
Now Neville must take his forlorn side to fellow strugglers Real Betis on Sunday in search of a first league victory under his leadership. Their progress in the cup had been a very welcome distraction from a floundering league campaign and the Nou Camp will always be the scene of the former Manchester United defender’s greatest triumph as a player.
But the memories of Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s miraculous late goals in the 1999 Champions League final were quickly replaced by images of Suárez, Messi, Andrés Iniesta and Neymar savaging his young side.
The Uruguayan began the mauling. André Gomes was robbed by Neymar and the Brazilian opened up the right wing for Suárez, who took one touch to control and the other to drive into the bottom corner. It was just the start. Then Sergio Busquets lifted a cross-field ball to full-back Aleix Vidal, who tucked the ball back for Suárez to bury in the top corner.
Messi added the third before half an hour was up and right before the break the Argentine was tripped in the box by Shkodran Mustafi. The hapless Valencia defender was sent off, leaving his side a man down for the final 45 minutes. An already long night was about to get longer.
Messi scored two more to complete his hat-trick, showing little remorse for Neville. One man who did was Neymar, hitting the post from the penalty spot following Mustafi’s desperate foul on Messi. It was a rare moment of respite for the English coach, but the humiliation was far from over. A restless Messi struck twice more after the break, assisted by a brilliant back-heel by Suarez. Neville stayed rooted to his dugout, trying to hide from the humiliation. Valencia were begging for the final whistle, but before it arrived, Suarez pounced twice in the space of five minutes.
- Telegraph