After being winless in four games in La Liga, including two defeats, Barcelona made a heroic return to this competition. They smashed Valencia today at their home ground and stay alive in the title race. Barcelona stand in 3rd with 42 points, 7 points behind Real Madrid.
Barca boss Hansi Flick said, “We started really focused, with a lot of intensity and we scored some good goals. For me, it was the perfect game and we saw a lot of things from players who have not played that much. I love the hunger my team has and how they show it. The game did not stop at 2-0 or 3-0, we fought on until the end, that is what I like about my players.”
As It Happened
Barcelona welcome Valencia today, where Hansi Flick set up the team formation with 4-2-3-1. Flick rotated his squad and benched some of the regular starters. Meanwhile, Valencia’s manager played his team in a 4-4-2.
The home side, Barcelona, did not waste time to break the deadlock as Frankie de Jong scored the opener in just three minutes of the match. Barca’s lead was doubled within only five minutes when Ferran Torres found the back of the net with the help of Alejandro Balde. It seemed a goal festive for Barcelona since they did not stop pressing the visitors. Raphinha, the second top scorer in Barcelona, scored 3-0 with a great finish.
Valencia had already given up the game and conceded two more goals within the first half, thanks to the goals of Farmin Lopez in the 24th and 45+4th minute. As a result, Barcelona went to the break with a massive 5-0 margin.
Coming from the break, the away side tried hard not to concede more goals since they had already been humiliated. However, Valencia were able to return one goal after the break as Hugo Duro beat Barca keeper and scored in the 59th minute.
Anyway, the Catalan side continued pressing high and showed their hunger for goals. Robert Lewandowski, coming off the bench in the 60th minute, got his 17th goal today in La Liga as he scored with the help of Lopez in the 66th minute. The final hit came in 75th minute when Valencia defender Cesar Tarrega scored an own goal to give Barcelona a massive win with a 7-1 margin.