Tenerife 0 - Barcelona 6

Tenerife: Sergio Aragoneses; Javi Venta, David Charcos, Lussenhoff, Basavilbaso; Bassedas (Antonio Hidalgo 59'), Martí, Bino (Jaime 46'); Xisco (Iván Ania 68'); Bicho Fuertes, Bruno Marioni. 4-3-1-2.
Barcelona: Reina; Gabri (Reiziger 52'), Puyol, Christanval, Frank De Boer, Sergi; Rochemback, Xavi, Motta; Kluivert (Geovanni 71'), Rivaldo (Saviola 68'). 5-3-2.

Team changes: Tenerife: Javi Venta, Xisco for Manel, Iván Ania / Barcelona: Puyol, Rochemback, Motta, Kluivert for Reiziger, Cocu, Overmars, Saviola.

Goals:
0-1. 15. Puyol. Overhead kick in penalty area after Kluivert played on corner.
0-2. 45. Kluivert. At second attempt after Sergio saved his first shot.
0-3. 49. Kluivert. Turned ball past keeper after Gabri low cross from right.
0-4. 67. Kluivert. Placed ball wide of keeper after Sergi laid ball in from left.
0-5. 70. Kluivert. Following up after keeper blocked Saviola shot.
0-6. 72. Charcos (own goal). Turned Rochemback cross past own keeper.

Barcelona bounced back after their two defeats in a row with a crushing 0-6 victory over Tenerife which included four goals from Patrick Kluivert. Rexach received a vote of confidence from club president Joan Gaspart who had turned down his resignation last week, but still needed a victory to make sure that his name was on the manager's door by next Monday. He decided to change his tactics for this match, lining up with three central defenders and leaving out Saviola, with young Brazilian midfielder Motta drafted in from the B team to replace the suspended Cocu. Pepe Mel only made a couple of changes from the side which lost at Villarreal, the most important of which was the inclusion of Xisco behind the front two rather than playing his left winger Iván Ania.

Wearing black armbands in memory of club vice-president Francesc Ventura who died earlier in the day, the visitors came out looking to silence their critics after their recent poor performances. Puyol opened the scoring with an uncharacteristic overhead kick with a quarter of an hour gone, and Kluivert got a second on the stroke of half time, a little lucky that the ball returned to him after Aragoneses stopped his first effort. That sank the Canary Island side, and they came out after the break in disarray. Kluivert got another soon after the restart, and then scored two in three minutes midway through the half to move level with Catanha at the top of the Pichichi chart and become the first Barça player since Stoichkov to score four goals in a game.

With a midweek league game to come Rexach took off the Dutch striker, and only a minute later Charcos put through his own net to round off a bad night for the hosts. This was their worst ever defeat in the first division, and fans called for the resignation of club president Javier Pérez at the end of the game. The last time they did that he fired his manager, and Pepe Mel could be approaching the end of his stay on the holiday island as his team sank to the bottom of the first division. Barcelona move up to seventh, only four points now behind the leaders, and once again they are back in the running. If only they could be consistent they could be title contenders, but then that wouldn't be Barcelona, would it?