Barcelona hammer Valencia 6-0 as Rashford makes his mark in La Liga
Barcelona crushed Valencia 6-0 as Lopez, Raphinha and Lewandowski hit brace, with the Polish striker marking his 150th club appearance in style.
New Delhi: FC Barcelona produced a ruthless display to sweep past Valencia 6-0 with Marcus Rashford registering his first direct involvement in a La Liga goal. The England international who has joined Blaugrana on loan from Manchester United set up Raphinha's opener and enjoyed his liveliest outing yet in a Barcelona shirt.
The win came in front of a small crowd of 6,000 at the Johan Cruyff Stadium which is a temporary home for Barca while the Camp Nou renovation drags on. The tight venue gave the evening a different feel but it hardly affected the champions, who dominated from the opening whistle and never allowed Valencia a route back.
Fermin Lopez got the ball rolling by converting Ferran Torres' pass midway through the first half and the midfielder doubled his tally shortly after the break with a spectacular strike from distance. By then Barca were fully in control and only picking up speed.
The moment many had been waiting for came in the 53rd minute when Rashford, operating off the left wing, whipped in a delightful cross for Raphinha to volley home and make it 2-0. It was the first time the forward had been involved in a league goal for Barcelona, underlining his growing confidence after being handed a second straight start. Rashford later saw two efforts fly just off target before being replaced in the 67th minute, leaving the pitch to warm applause from the home crowd.
Raphinha, who entered as a half-time substitute quickly made up for lost time by grabbing his second in the 66th minute. Reports in Spain suggested he was benched for disciplinary reasons, though coach Hansi Flick insisted it was a tactical call after his international duty with Brazil. Whatever the reason, his performance off the bench left little doubt about his importance to the side.
The star striker Robert Lewandowski who was featuring in his 150th match for Barcelona, also came off the bench and wasted no time in joining the fun. The striker converted from Dani Olmo’s clever pass to net the fifth before adding another late on, a delicate chip confirmed by VAR after initially being flagged offside.
Looking ahead
The victory was Barcelona’s third in four games to start the season, lifting them to 10 points and second place in the table, just two behind rivals Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Valencia slid to 15th after another demoralising result and have now conceded 18 goals across their last three meetings with Barcelona.
It could easily have been worse for the visitors with Ferran Torres striking the post after another Rashford delivery and several chances going begging late on. Still, the emphatic margin was more than enough to send a message: Barcelona are finding their rhythm early and Rashford has already begun to leave his mark on La Liga.