Football Espana
·26 January 2025
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Yahoo sportsFootball Espana
·26 January 2025
Barcelona have scored six goals as the Catalan giants have steamrollered simply Valencia tonight.
The Catalans are looking to close the title gap on arch rivals Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on home soil and Hansi Flick’s rotated side have been sensational from the off.
Hansi Flick
Photo by TIAGO PETINGA / EFE
With Flick opting to refresh his team following their brilliant 5-4 midweek UEFA Champions League win away at Benfica, one of his new faces fired home after just 145 seconds.
Frenkie de Jong has been a controversial figure at times this season but he showed a killer instinct to net his first home goal of the campaign.
Lamine Yamal’s brilliance created the chance for the Dutch star, and despite the chaos around him in the Valencia box, he kept his cool to slot home.
Barcelona star Raphinha
De Jong’s celebrations were quickly followed by more joy for the hosts, as Ferran Torres followed the pattern of fresh faces finding the net, before Raphinha made it 3-0.
With Valencia unable to cope with the onslaught, their chance of a reprieve was dashed as a penalty call against Wojciech Szczesny was overturned by VAR.
The pendulum swung back for Barcelona just before the break as Fermin Lopez seized his chance to impress Flick with a quickfire double.
Keen to not be left out of the excitement, La Liga Golden Boot leader Robert Lewandowski was rolled on as a second half substitute and the Polish star lashed home his 17th league goal of 2024/25.
Barcelona now lead La Liga in the goal difference charts on +35 ahead of both teams above them in the overall table – which could be key at the end of the campaign.
Victory tonight moves Barcelona up to 42 points in third place in the table, three points behind Atletico Madrid, and seven from table toppers Real Madrid.
Images via Getty Images/One Football