Barça pummels Sporting 6-1, then learns of Luis Enrique's exit

ASTANA. KAZINFORM FC Barcelona routed lowly Sporting Gijon 6-1 in a game Wednesday night that was short on drama and quickly overshadowed by the announcement afterward that the Catalans' head coach, Luis Enrique, will be stepping down at the end of the season, Kazinform has learnt from Agencia EFE .

Barcelona was scarcely troubled at Camp Nou by a team in danger of relegation, getting the opening goal from Argentine superstar Lionel Messi just eight minutes into the contest and a second goal three minutes later that went in after a failed attempted clearance by Sporting defender Juan Rodriguez.

Sporting clawed one back in the 21st minute on a goal by striker Carlos Castro, but Barça quickly shrugged off that temporary setback when a mistake by defender Jean-Sylvain Babin set up Luis Suarez for a goal off a volley shortly before the half-hour mark.

Barcelona then piled on in the second half with three more goals, the most remarkable of which was a sublime free kick from a tight angle by Neymar, the man of the match, in the 66th minute.

But the action on the field was quickly relegated to a second plane when Luis Enrique announced that he would not renew his contract at the end of the 2016-2017 campaign.

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