Barcelona vs Valladolid – ZimEye

Rafinha scored his first career hat trick and provided two assists as Barcelona cruised to a 7-0 win over Real Valladolid in La Liga on Saturday.

Barcelona will head into the international break top of the table with a perfect record of 12 points from four games, five points ahead of second-placed Villarreal and seven ahead of fourth-placed rivals Real Madrid, both of which have played a game in hand.

Last weekend, Real Valladolid gave Real Madrid a tough game. Facing such an opponent, Barcelona showed their strength from the beginning and proved from the beginning why they are the most impressive team in Spain this season under the leadership of new head coach Hansi Flick.

Rafinha and Robert Lewandowski gave the hosts a two-goal lead within four minutes, before similar efforts were made on the counterattack, with Pau Kubarsi and Lamine Yamal controlling long balls before firing cleanly into the keeper’s net.

Jules Koundé extended Barca’s lead with a corner kick in injury time before half-time, and Raphinha doubled the lead from close range after Lewandowski’s shot hit the post.

The Brazil international continued his masterclass by providing an assist for new signing Dani Olmo, who finally scored in the 82nd minute on his first start for Barca after hitting the post twice from close range and missing a chance to score.

Substitute Ferran Torres completed the win with another assist from Rafinha, who is second in La Liga’s top scorer list with three goals, just one behind Lewandowski.

ESPN

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