Barcelona recorded a 3-1 win over Villarreal in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday evening.

Lionel Messi scored five minutes before the interval to send Barca ahead, but Manu Trigueros levelled the scores three minutes into the second period.

The home side regained the lead less than two minutes later, however, with Andres Iniesta sweeping one home form close range after good work from Luis Suarez.

Gerard Pique then added a third after 65 minutes, but Neymar missed the chance to make it 4-1 from the penalty spot 20 minutes from time.

Here, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two Spanish rivals.

Match statistics

BARCA
Shots: 17
On target: 6
Possession: 73%
Corners: 13
Fouls: 4

VILLARREAL
Shots: 4
On target: 3
Possession: 27%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 11

Was the result fair?

There is no doubt that Barca deserved to record a routine win in the first leg at Camp Nou. In truth, it was probably more comfortable than the hosts would have imagined, with Villarreal struggling to create opportunities in Barcelona. In total, the home side had 17 attempts to Villarreal's four, which is a demonstration of what occurred in the final third of the field. The Yellow Submarine did have some bright moments, but their goal came from a poor mistake from Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Villarreal can also take heart from their performance in the first period, but they conceded late in the half when Mateo Musacchio was robbed of possession by Suarez, who set up Messi for the opener. Villarreal started the second period on the front foot and managed to level, but it was one-way traffic down the other end for the majority of the second half. Indeed, Barca missed the chance to make it 4-1 from the penalty spot, which would have surely ended the contest. As it stands, Villarreal will still be confident of turning it around in the second leg, but it is a big ask for Marcelino's side.

Barca's performance

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique signalled his intent when he named a strong XI for the contest. That is usually the case at this stage of the competition, but Enrique took no chances, with the majority of his big guns in the team. Again, Suarez, Messi and Neymar all impressed, with Suarez and Messi combining for the first of the match. Neymar also had a strong night despite missing from the penalty spot and in truth, Villarreal struggled to deal with the home side's forward line. The Catalan outfit also did well to close Villarreal's threat on the counter, which has been a potent weapon in recent weeks.

The fact that Barca were so comfortable and yet so dominant in the second period is an indication of the type of form that they are currently in. Indeed, Villarreal have only lost twice in their last 21 games and both of those were against Barca. Javier Mascherano returned to the heart of the midfield alongside the talented Rafinha and both were impressive. Further back, Pique continued his strong run of form. The Catalan outfit have had their problems this season, but it all seems to be coming together, with this victory making it 11 in a row in all competitions for Enrique's side.

Villarreal's performance

Like Enrique, Villarreal boss Marcelino selected arguably his strongest XI at Camp Nou, which has not always been his mantra in this competition. The Yellow Submarine caused Barcelona all sorts of problems when the pair met in the league earlier this month, but they struggled to offer a similar threat in this one. Luciano Vietto was the brightest of the away side's forward players, but Denis Cheryshev and Giovani dos Santos both struggled to make their mark. Further back, Musacchio had a disappointing night, with the centre-back at fault for the first goal, before conceding a second-half penalty.

Villarreal struggled in the first period, but they started the second 45 minutes on the front foot and deservedly levelled through Trigueros, who replaced the injured Bruno in the first period. Just like in the league match 10 days ago, however, Villarreal conceded moments after scoring, with Iniesta making it 2-1. Barca then scored a third through Pique as Villarreal lost their shape, which had been so impressive in the first period. In truth, Villarreal did not do too much wrong for long spells, they just came up against a Barca side that is starting to look the real deal at the perfect stage of the campaign.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Lionel Messi: The Argentine is in red-hot form at the moment and he continued in the same manner at Camp Nou. Messi opened the scoring with a super finish late in the first period, before setting up Pique for goal number three. Surprisingly, however, the attacker passed on the penalty duties to Neymar and the Brazilian missed from the spot.

Biggest gaffe

Ter Stegen did not have the best night in the Barcelona goal, but he had a real horror moment early in the second period when Villarreal levelled the scores. Trigueros's effort from distance had plenty of power, but it was straight at the German, who somehow allowed it to move through his palms. Ter Stegen was attempting to clear with a punch, but it went terribly wrong.

Referee performance

Referee Alejandro Hernandez had a fairly routine evening at Camp Nou. The Spaniard did not issue a single booking in the first period, but that number did rise to four in the second half. Villarreal will feel that the award of the penalty was harsh, with Musacchio hardly moving his arm towards the ball, but Hernandez was in a good position to make the call. Aside from that, the official did not really have any major decisions to make in the semi-final first leg.

What next?

Barca: The Catalan outfit return to league action on Sunday afternoon with a home match against Levante.

Villarreal: Marcelino's side, meanwhile, travel to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday evening.