FC Barcelona maintained their perfect record in LALIGA with a 7-0 thrashing of Real Valladolid on Saturday evening.
LALIGA
Result: Barcelona 7-0 Real Valladolid
Date: 31 August 2024
Venue: Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Dani Olmo has earned his first start his Man of the Match cameo in the comeback win over Rayo Vallecano as Ferran Torres dropped to the bench, while Gerard Martin made way for Alejandro Balde at left-back.
The Catalan giants made a fast start to the encounter when Olmo nearly bagged his second goal by rattling the crossbar before the Spaniard had a goal disallowed for offside on ten minutes.
The home side got the opening goal after 20 minutes when Raphinha collected a pass from Pau Cubarsi before sending a composed finish into the left side of the goal.
The lead was doubled in the four minutes later when Lamine Yamal turned provider to play Robert Lewandowski through on goal and the Polish striker sent a low strike past goalkeeper Karl Hein.
Valladolid had big chance to reduce the deficit shortly before the break after Raul Moro found himself in the box after being played in, but the attacker was denied by goalkeeper Andre ter Stegen.
Barcelona were able to grab a third goal on the stroke of halftime when Jules Kounde opened his account for the season with a powerful finish after Valladolid failed to clear from a corner.
Flick's charges carried that momentum in to the second period and went on to grab a fourth goal, as Raphinha got his second goal in the 64th minute after poking into an empty net after a goal-mouth scramble.
The day belonged to Raphinha who completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute with a neat finish under Hein to cap off a wonderful performance in front of the Barcelona faithful.
It was a riot in the latter stages after Olmo finally got his name on the score-sheet with eight minutes to play, skipping past one challenge in the box before slotting into the far corner.
Second-half substitute Ferran Torres rounded off the scoring in the 85th minute with a classy finish after turning home a cross from Raphinha.
