Barcelona maintained their perfect start to the La Liga season with a dominant 5-0 victory over bottom-placed Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium.
Hansi Flick’s side took control of the contest from the opening minutes and quickly established a commanding advantage before adding three more goals after the break.
Barcelona broke the deadlock after just five minutes when Lamine Yamal found space behind the Valencia defense and calmly converted a perfectly weighted through ball from Fermin Lopez.
Lopez then doubled Barcelona’s advantage after firing Anthony Gordon’s lay-off into the bottom-left corner of Stole Dimitrievski’s goal.
The goal marked Lopez’s fourth of the season, while Gordon registered his fourth assist in as many matches.
Barcelona resumed the second half with the same intensity and extended their lead when Raphinha tapped in his sixth goal of the campaign.
Lopez was instrumental in the move, sprinting the length of the attacking half before setting up the former Leeds winger to score his 50th goal in the Spanish topflight.
Barcelona continued to dominate as Pedri combined with Dani Olmo for a neat one-two before calmly slotting the ball into the net for the fourth goal.
Also Read: Barcelona agree £65m deal to sign Rodri from Man City
Olmo then added another assist, weaving between Valencia midfielders before releasing Yamal, who completed his brace and rounded off a ruthless display from the visitors.
The match also saw former Premier League players Harvey Elliot and Gabriel Jesus make their Barcelona debuts after coming on as second-half substitutes.
It was also Rodri’s first start for Barcelona since completing his reported £65 million move from Manchester City.
Barcelona’s attacking quality and control left Valencia struggling to find a response as the visitors secured another emphatic victory.
The victory allowed Barcelona to capitalize on Real Madrid’s shock defeat to Real Betis on Friday and move three points clear at the top of La Liga.
Flick’s team have now scored 17 goals in four league matches while conceding only two, underlining their impressive start to the campaign. For Valencia, the defeat leaves them with just one point and one goal from their opening four matches.
There were also signs of growing frustration among the home supporters, with a section of Valencia fans staging a planned protest by delaying their entry into the stadium.
The supporters eventually made their way into the Mestalla in the 19th minute, a symbolic reference to 1919, the year the club was founded.
Barcelona will now turn their attention to the Champions League, with Feyenoord set to visit them on Wednesday for their opening group-stage fixture. Valencia, meanwhile, will look to respond when they travel to face Sevilla on Friday.
BBC
