The in-form Brazilian winger Raphinha fired in a hat trick as Barcelona demolished Real Valladolid 7-0 on Saturday, securing their fourth straight win in La Liga below new coach Hansi Flick.
While bitter rivals Real Madrid have faltered regardless of the high-profile arrival of Kylian Mbappe, Barcelona have soared to an ideal begin, undeterred by ongoing monetary struggles.
They are additionally lacking Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Ronald Araujo however have a most 12 factors heading into the worldwide break, leaving them seven away from Madrid, who face Real Betis on Sunday.
“We’re growing as a team. I think it’s a very good start to the season,” mentioned Barcelona captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
“I’m proud of how things are going… hopefully, we can continue like that in the coming weeks.”
Barcelona’s finest begin to a La Liga marketing campaign got here in 2013-14 once they started the season with eight straight wins, though they have been pipped to the title that yr by Atletico Madrid.
Raphinha opened the scoring for Barcelona on the Olympic Stadium within the twentieth minute as he chested down a go from Pau Cubarsi and flicked elegantly into the far nook with the skin of his left boot.
Robert Lewandowski quickly doubled the lead when he latched onto a ball by way of from Lamine Yamal and squeezed a shot previous Valladolid goalkeeper Karl Hein, on mortgage from Arsenal.
Jules Kounde made it 3-0 earlier than halftime when a nook dropped to the France defender inside the world and he stabbed it into the highest nook whereas off-balance.
Raphinha had a easy tap-in from shut vary simply previous the hour, with Lewandowski and Yamal concerned earlier than the ball broke kindly for the Brazilian.
He accomplished his treble within the 72nd minute following a superb burst ahead from Yamal, who then slid by way of a pleasant go for Raphinha to stroke residence.
Dani Olmo, who obtained the winner midweek at Rayo Vallecano on his debut, struck along with his remaining contact after twice hitting the submit and having a purpose disallowed for offside.
The Spain worldwide danced previous a sequence of defenders and rolled in Barcelona’s sixth. He missed Barcelona’s first two video games this time period because the membership struggled to satisfy La Liga’s strict monetary guidelines and couldn’t register him.
Raphinha rounded off a glittering efficiency with an help for Ferran Torres as Barcelona hit a seventh, fizzing in a cross from the left for the substitute to steer residence in medical trend.
Atletico Madrid snatched a 1-0 victory away from Athletic Bilbao as Angel Correa scored in stoppage time to ship Diego Simeone’s facet as much as second, 4 factors adrift of Barcelona.
Espanyol got here from behind to win 2-1 at residence to Rayo Vallecano, with Tottenham loanee Alejo Veliz hanging within the sixth minute of added time.
Ayoze Perez’s equalizer ensured Villarreal remained unbeaten, however they needed to accept a 1-1 draw towards a Valencia facet that had misplaced every of its first three video games.
Mallorca picked up their first win of the season by beating Leganes 1-0.
Source: www.dailysabah.com