BARCELONA: Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez struck twice each as Barcelona thumped Valencia 6-0 on Sunday in a La Liga match they were forced to play at their tiny Johan Cruyff training ground stadium because of delays in reopening their Spotify Camp Nou home.
The rampant Spanish champions moved second, two points behind leaders Real Madrid, who boast a 100 percent record after their win at Real Sociedad on Saturday.
Hosting the game at the 6,000 capacity ground besides their training facilities west of the city, with the rebuilt Camp Nou not yet permitted to open, Barca’s first home game of the season saw high-calibre football in a low-key setting.
Star forward Lamine Yamal’s absence due to a groin issue was a further blow for Barca, with coach Hansi Flick criticizing the Spanish national team for playing him twice despite the problem during World Cup qualifiers last week.
The German handed Roony Bardghji his debut on the right flank in Yamal’s stead after his summer arrival from Copenhagen.
Barcelona dominated Valencia in the first half without creating many clear-cut chances.
Marcus Rashford and Ferran Torres fired narrowly over and wide respectively as Flick’s side penned in the visitors.
Lopez, linked with a move to Chelsea during the summer, dug in to stay at Barca and proved his worth against Los Che.
Barca took the lead after 29 minutes when Torres flicked on a pass into the midfielder’s path.
Lopez scampered into the box and flashed a strike across Julen Agirrezabala and into the net.
Carlos Corberan’s Valencia, 15th, did not muster a shot in the first half to Barca’s 11, playing conservatively after a 7-1 thrashing by the Blaugrana in January.
Flick brought on Raphinha for the quiet Bardghji at half-time as he sought to put the game to bed, and soon had the goals he wanted.
Rashford, on his brightest outing since joining from Manchester United on loan, whipped in a dangerous cross which Raphinha slid home at the far post.
It was Rashford’s first direct goal contribution since arriving at the club.
Lopez blasted in a third from long range, which goalkeeper Agirrezabala might have dealt with better.
Raphinha smashed in Barca’s fourth at the near post as the Catalans ran riot.
Flick shuffled his pack with Thursday’s Champions League opener in mind, bringing on Polish veteran Lewandowski and Dani Olmo.
The 37-year-old striker grabbed his first goal of the season with a lethal finish after Olmo played him in behind the defense.
Flick was also able to bring on midfielder Marc Bernal after a nine-month absence following a severe knee injury.
The 18-year-old holding midfielder created Barca’s sixth goal as he set up Lewandowski to dink over the hapless Agirrezabala to round off the emphatic rout.
Champions Barca crush Valencia at training ground stadium
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Champions Barca crush Valencia at training ground stadium
- Barcelona dominated Valencia in the first half without creating many clear-cut chances
Liverpool without Salah beats Inter in Champions League. Barcelona and Bayern win
- Karl became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League games
- Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt
After leaving Mohamed Salah in England, Liverpool got a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Barcelona and Bayern Munich celebrated comeback wins and Chelsea lost.
With Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty which earned a 1-0 win over one of the competition’s best-performing teams.
It was all the more valuable for coming after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot’s under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth.
Liverpool’s players thought they had taken the lead with Ibrahima Konate’s header in the 31st minute but, after a video review that lasted more than four minutes, it was ruled out for handball as Virgil van Dijk had earlier nodded the ball on to the arm of Hugo Ekitike.
Having taken away a goal from Liverpool, VAR came to the visitors’ aid when it spotted that Alessandro Bastoni had tugged Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the area, with the midfielder flailing to the ground. Szoboszlai converted the penalty.
Bayern’s new star shines
Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon earlier Tuesday.
Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.
It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich’s own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.
Serge Gnabry leveled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th, before Karl scored Bayern’s second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.
Widely viewed as German soccer’s best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competitions.
Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back’s first game since March after a serious knee injury.
Chelsea loses
Chelsea was beaten in the Champions League for the first time in nearly three months as Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere set up the equalizer and scored an 83rd-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea, which went ahead through Joao Pedro, dropped out of the top eight automatic qualifying spots with its second loss.
It was a fourth win for Atalanta, which climbed to third and is the highest-placed Italian team.
Gianluca Scamacca made it 1-1 by heading home a cross from De Ketelaere, who then drove in a shot that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Koundé drives Barcelona comeback
Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marcus Rashford assisted in the first goal in the 50th and Lamine Yamal in the second in the 53rd.
The visitors had taken the lead with a goal by Ansgar Knauff in a 21st-minute breakaway at the renovated Camp Nou stadium, which still can’t hold full capacity.
Son watches Spurs win
Son Heung-min said a belated goodbye to Tottenham as his former club moved up to ninth after beating Slavia Prague 3-0 on an own goal and two penalties in a game overshadowed by a dispute over moving a rainbow flag showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Julián Alvarez scored for the ninth time in his last nine league-phase appearances to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 come-from-behind win at PSV Eindhoven.
Marseille held on for a 3-2 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, whose players and fans twice celebrated what they thought were goals to level the score late on, only for both to be ruled out for narrow offsides on video review.
Folarin Balogun bundled the ball over the line from close range to give Monaco a 1-0 win over Galatasaray.
Olympiakos broke through a determined Kairat Almaty defense to take a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan and boost its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Gelson Martins scored for the Greek side in the 73rd.
