Barcelona beat hapless Valencia 7-1 on Sunday to get back on track in La Liga with a ruthless win. Fermin Lopez scored two goals for the Catalan team in the first half, in addition to goals from Frenkie de Jong, Ferran Torres and Rafinha, to give Barcelona a five-goal lead in the first half. Hugo Duro pulled a goal back early in the second half before Robert Lewandowski scored for Barcelona, followed by an own goal from Cesar Tárrega, as the third-placed side recorded only their second win in their last nine league matches.
Hansi Flick’s team trails Real Madrid, the leader of the Spanish League, by seven points, and Atletico Madrid, which is in second place, by three points.
“I think in La Liga we were going through a bad dynamic and we needed this win, it’s very important and now we have to keep fighting,” Lopez told DAZN.
“The coach says everyone in the team is important, and whoever plays we have to be up to par – that’s what we are as a team, that’s how we can compete for the title.
“There is still a long way to go and we will fight until the end.”
Flick adjusted his lineup against Valencia in order to provoke a reaction given the club’s poor domestic form.
The coach started with Lewandowski and Ronald Araujo on the bench, while Pedri was absent due to a stomach problem, which led to the participation of De Jong, Ferran Torres and the great Lopez.
It only took three minutes for De Jong to open the scoring, following a cross pass from young star Lamin Yamal in the penalty area with almost no supervision, and he shot into the net.
Barcelona quickly scored its second goal, as Torres scored from Alejandro Balde’s cross, in a similar way to the first goal, but from the opposite side.
The hosts took a three-goal lead in the 14th minute when Lopez sent a wonderful ball over the top for Rafinha to run to.
He dribbled past Brazilian winger Giorgi Mamardashvili and scored his 12th league goal of the season.
Valencia, without the suspended Cristian Mosquera, struggled badly in defense and Barcelona seemed to penetrate the goal at will.
Lopez received a long pass from Pau Cobarci to score the fourth goal, and although the referee initially ruled it out for offside, the decision was corrected by the video assistant referee.
Valencia thought they had won a penalty when Wojciech Szczesny brought down Hugo Duro but play was eventually restarted for a foul on Jules Kounde after another video review.
Lopez scored the fifth goal with a direct shot before the end of the first half when Rafinha’s shot hit the post and fell well in front of it with the goalkeeper standing up.
“Angry and sad”
Hugo Duro pulled one back for Valencia before the hour mark with a low cross from Diego Lopez and Flick responded by sending over Lewandowski, the Spanish league’s top scorer.
The Polish striker clinically finished off his 17th league goal of the season after being set up by Lopez to score Barcelona’s sixth goal of the night.
Barcelona scored its seventh goal when Torres’ cross was accidentally hit into his own net by Tarraga.
Flick told reporters: “For me, it was the perfect match.”
“Today (Fermin) showed how efficient he is… He attacked everything and defended very well, and he was unbelievable with the ball.”
Seven goals did not please Barcelona in any way, and the defeat was a setback for Carlos Corberan’s Valencia side, who sit in 19th place and four points from safety.
Valencia said: “I feel angry and sad for all the people who came to see us, and all the fans watching us at home. We have to apologize because we were not up to the game or the shirt we represent.” Defender Jose Gaya.
“It was a huge step backwards, we have to ask for forgiveness… We have to feel the pain after this, we cannot forget it, we have to focus this energy and anger into the next match.”
Earlier, Athletic Bilbao, in fourth place, was unable to achieve a goalless draw at home against Leganes, and is now two points behind Barcelona.
Getafe, battling for relegation, achieved an impressive 3-0 victory over host Real Sociedad to rise to 14th place, while Rayo Vallecano came from behind to beat Girona 2-1.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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