Barcelona crushes Real Valladolid 7-0 to maintain lead
FC Barcelona, Benfica’s rival in the Champions League, today thrashed Valladolid 7-0, with a hat-trick and an assist from the ‘devilish’ Raphinha, reinforcing their isolated leadership of the Spanish football league in the fourth round.
The team coached by German Hans-Dieter Flick continued their immaculate start to La Liga, with their fourth win in four rounds, the Catalans’ best start to the championship since the seven consecutive victories achieved during Ernesto Valverde’s reign in 2017/18.
The promoted Valladolid, in which Portuguese goalkeeper André Ferreira did not come off the bench, ended up seeing winger Raphinha, a former Vitória de Guimarães and Sporting player, put on a great performance, crowned with the first hat-trick of his career.
The Brazilian international began to score FC Barcelona’s rout in the 20th minute, with his other two goals coming in the second half, in the 64th and 72nd minutes, in addition to having provided the assist for Ferran Torres’ goal (85), which ‘sealed’ the result.
Polish forward Lewandowski, in the 24th minute, French central defender Koundé, in the 45+2, and Dani Olmo, in the 83rd, also contributed to the expressive outcome.
Barcelona strengthened its position in first place in the Spanish League, with 12 points, five more than Villarreal, who play at Valencia today (20:30).
Also today, the matches Athletic Bilbao-Atlético de Madrid (18:00), Espanyol-Rayo Vallecano (18:15) and Leganés-Mallorca (20:30) will be played.
Champions Real Madrid are fifth on five points and host Betis on Sunday (8:30pm).
