BARCELONA: Forward Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and delivered two assists to guide an imperious Barcelona to a 7-0 rout of Real Valladolid in La Liga on Saturday.

Barcelona will go to the international break on top of the standings on a perfect 12 points from four games, five ahead second-placed Villarreal and seven clear of bitter rivals Real Madrid in fourth, both of whom have a game in hand.

“We’re growing as a team. I think it’s a very good start to the season,” said Barcelona captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen.“I’m proud of how things are going... hopefully we can continue like that in the next weeks.”

Facing a Valladolid who gave champions Real Madrid a tough game last weekend, Barcelona were ruthless and showed from the start why they have been Spain’s most impressive side this season under new manager Hansi Flick.

Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski gave the host a two-goal lead within four minutes with similar efforts from counter- attacks, controlling long balls by Pau Cubarsi and Lamine Yamal before tidy finishes past the goalkeeper.

Jules Kounde extended the lead striking a rebound from a corner in added time before the break and, after Lewandowski hit the post, Raphinha scored twice from close range to extend Barca’s lead.

The Brazil international continued his masterclass with an assist to new signing Dani Olmo who, after hitting the post twice and missing an absolute sitter from close-range, finally managed to score in the 82nd minute in his first start for Barca.

Substitute Ferran Torres completed the drubbing from another assist by Raphinha who is second in the La Liga top-scorer race with thr­ee goals, one behind Lewandowski.

In Saturday’s other fixture, Atletico snatched a 1-0 victory away to Athletic Bilbao as Angel Correa scored in stoppage time to send Diego Simeone’s side up to second, four points adrift of Barcelona.

Substitute Alexander Sorloth stole the ball from defender Inigo Lekue on the halfway line and set up substitute Correa who, four minutes after coming off the bench, took it past the goalkeeper before tapping into the empty net.

Following a lacklustre display in a dour home goalless draw against lowly Espanyol on Wednesday, Simeone said the win at a tough place like Bilbao showed the depth of Atletico’s squad.

“We have the squad to play in different ways with very adaptable and versatile players,” Simeone told a press conference.

“Against Espanyol we had the chances but we didn’t convert. Today we played the game we wanted to play, strong at the back and those who came off the bench were key, like Sorloth, who made a great recovery to set up Correa’s goal.

“The substitutes gave the team a lot more energy. We needed to be more precise up-front because it was clear that we could do some damage. That’s what happened in the second half.”

Elsewhere, Espanyol came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano with Tottenham loanee Alejo Veliz striking in the sixth minute of added time.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2024