BARCELONA : Barcelona made light of playing in front of just 6,000 fans to thrash Valencia 6-0 in their first home game of the season, with three players netting twice in a goal-scoring carnival.
Victory propelled the Catalans to second in LaLiga on 10 points, two points behind leaders Real Madrid, who have a perfect start with four wins from four matches.
Fermin Lopez, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski all notched doubles.
Used to playing at their 100,000-capacity Camp Nou home then at their temporary base of the 56,000-capacity Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Barcelona kicked off their home LaLiga campaign at tiny Estadi Johan Cruyff at their Sant Joan Despi training.
Camp Nou renovations have fallen nine months behind schedule and a Post Malone concert left the Lluis Companys pitch in poor condition, forcing them to find a stop-gap solution for their fourth game of the season.
The cramped Johan Cruyff stadium required LaLiga to grant Barca a special exemption from competition rules requiring first-division clubs to have a minimum capacity of 15,000 seats.
BARCELONA FLYING
Despite coach Hansi Flick making sweeping changes to his starting eleven after the international break – and with one eye on Thursday’s Champions League debut at Newcastle – Barcelona flew out of the blocks.
Lopez opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a strike from inside the box assisted by Ferran Torres but it was after the break that Barca unleashed their fury.
Raphinha made an immediate impact off the bench in the 58th minute, launching himself to convert a cross from Marcus Rashford with a right-footed volley while Lopez doubled his tally three minutes later with a strike from long-range, before Raphinha completed his double in the 66th minute.
Lewandowski, introduced in the 68th minute, wasted little time adding his name to the scoresheet, wrapping up the rout with two close-range strikes to complete a perfect afternoon for the Catalan giants.
“From the outset, we demonstrated what we wanted to achieve, and that is what we have witnessed,” Flick told a press conference.
“Not only Fermin Lopez who had a great game, but everyone has fought hard and enjoyed themselves on the pitch. The team has been outstanding in every position. The three points are perfect, and for me, it is wonderful to have to choose between so many great players.”
Valencia slumped to 15th position with just four points.
