Barcelona maintained their 100% winning start to the La Liga season as they delivered a 7-0 thumping to newly-promoted Real Valladolid – a result that extends their unbeaten run in home league head-to-heads, which stretches back to November 1997.
Fresh from scoring the winner on his Barcelona debut, Dani Olmo was handed a first start here and he was at the forefront of the action in the early stages. Lamine Yamal’s delicate cross to the back post could only be dragged across goal by Robert Lewandowski and into the path of Olmo, but his close-range effort rattled the post.
He had the ball in the net on 10 minutes only to be denied by the offside flag, though there was a growing sense that an opening goal was only a matter of time for the Blaugrana.
And so it proved, with Raphinha the man to get it, finishing with aplomb after being released in behind the Valladolid defence by an exquisite ball from Pau Cubarsí.
The Valladolid defensive line was penetrated again just four minutes later, with Yamal the architect this time, releasing Lewandowski to rifle home Barcelona’s second. It already looked a long way back for the visitors, though some heart could be taken from the fact that Barça had scored exactly twice in eight of their previous 10 league matches.
Hansi Flick’s men were showing no mercy, however, adding a third in first-half stoppage time when Jules Koundé pounced on a loose ball in the box to fire in with the assistance of the post.
Damage limitation was all Valladolid could realistically hope for after the break, but Barcelona continued to cut through at will. First, Olmo scuffed a gilt-edged chance at the back post before Yamal was denied by Karl Hein and Lewandowski followed his new teammate in smashing an effort against the post.
Los Blanquivioletas would not continue to escape though, falling four behind just beyond the hour mark. A low cross created a chaotic scene in the box, and Lewandowski showed all his experience to scoop the ball to the back post for Raphinha to convert into an empty net. The Brazilian had his hat-trick before long, sliding underneath Hein after being slotted through by Yamal.
Not content with five, Olmo got in on the action to score for a second successive appearance, bursting through the Valladolid defence before curling into the far corner.
The rout continued into the closing stages, with Ferran Torres getting in on the act by directing Raphinha’s cross in at the near post.
Mercifully for the visitors, seven is where the scoring stopped with Barcelona content with the ominous message they’ve sent to their La Liga rivals, most notably Real Madrid who’ve already dropped four points after three rounds.
