Barcelona make it five as rampant start continues against Valencia

Barcelona maintained their perfect start to the La Liga season with a 5-0 victory over Valencia on 6 September, scoring five goals for the third time in their opening four matches.

The result moved the Catalan club clear at the top of the table, with no other side winning all four of their games. Valencia, meanwhile, remain in serious trouble after collecting only one point and scoring just once across their first four fixtures.

Barcelona travelled to Valencia having already found the net 12 times in their opening three league matches. Even with their attention also turning towards the start of the Champions League, the hosts appeared to have little prospect of stopping them.

Those hopes were effectively ended after six minutes. Fermin Lopez lifted the ball towards the right-hand side of the six-yard box, where Lamine Yamal produced a superb finish with the outside of his foot to lift it over Stole Dimitrievski.

Barcelona thought they had doubled their advantage soon afterwards. Pedri opened up the Valencia defence with a pass to Fermin Lopez, who again chose to set up Yamal rather than shoot himself. Yamal fired past Dimitrievski, but the goal was ruled out following a lengthy video assistant referee check for an offside.

Fermin Lopez was rewarded for his unselfish work in the 29th minute. After a pass from Lopez, Yamal attempted to dribble through the defence and appeared to lose possession, but Gordon helped Barcelona create a favourable ricochet towards the edge of the penalty area. Fermin Lopez arrived to strike through a crowd of players and into the corner, making it 2-0.

Yamal came close to adding another moments later, only for Dimitrievski to make an impressive save. The Valencia goalkeeper reached up to pull the ball away from beneath the crossbar.

Barcelona then struck the post before half-time. Yamal carried the ball down the flank, slipped between two defenders and managed to push his effort against the woodwork. Raphinha followed up, but his involvement was ruled offside.

The Brazilian did not have to wait long to make an impact after the interval. Five minutes into the second half, Yamal accelerated down the right and played the ball inside to Fermin Lopez. The midfielder sent a low delivery beyond Dimitrievski, allowing Raphinha to complete the move with a simple touch for Barcelona’s third goal.

Valencia endured another spell of pressure soon afterwards. Rodri hit the crossbar from a corner and Gordon missed a clear one-on-one opportunity.

Barcelona were creating and wasting chances without appearing to need to reach top speed, yet the goals continued to arrive. Pedri drove through the middle, exchanged passes with Dani Olmo and placed his finish into the bottom corner to make it 4-0.

Olmo then released Yamal with a pass through the defence. The teenager ran at Dimitrievski from the right half-space and finished decisively through the goalkeeper for his second goal of the match.

That completed a heavy defeat for Valencia, who spent the closing stages hoping for the final whistle. For Barcelona, the result marked the third occasion in four La Liga rounds that they had scored five goals, underlining the strength of their early-season attack.

The match also confirmed Barcelona as the division’s only side to have won every game so far.