An utterly dominant display earns Barcelona their second straight four-goal haul as they put on a swaggering show at Camp Nou.
Their fluent front three firing on all cylinders and enjoying plenty of support from behind.
The Blaugrana scored twice in each half and were rarely troubled defensively.
Valladolid, meanwhile, found themselves restricted to a background role, in which they mostly chased the shadows of Dembele, Raphinha, et al.
Starting lineup:
BARCELONA (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen;
Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Jules Kounde, Alejandro Balde;
Sergio Busquets, Pedri, Gavi;
Ousmane Dembele, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha.
REAL VALLADOLID (4-3-3): Jordi Masip;
Luis Perez, Joaquin Fernandez, Javi Sanchez, Sergio Escudero;
Alvaro Aguado, Monchu, Kike Perez;
Ivan Sanchez, Sergi Guardiola, Anuar Mohamed.
Goals:
BARCA BREAKTHROUGH! The Blaugrana lead 1-0, as yet another inswinging cross from the irrepressible Raphinha slices the Valladolid defence open and picks out Lewandowski at the back post. The veteran striker does what he does best and guides the ball into the back of the net from a yard out! It had been coming for quite a while, but there’s the opener!
PEDRI STRIKES! After some slick work from Dembele on the right, which ends with a tidy pass across the box, Pedri steps forth to sweep the ball home for Barca’s second goal. Masip has no chance, as the young midfield maestro crashes the ball into the bottom corner from 10 yards out!
BARCA HAVE A THIRD! A typical touch of class from arch-predator Lewandowski seals the points for Barcelona, as he receives the ball from Dembele and slots a backheel through the defender’s legs and past Masip into the bottom-left corner! What a finish to a swift move – that’s 3-0 to the Blaugrana, and game over!
4-0! Despite a magnificent close-range save by Masip, who tips a goalbound shot from hat-trick seeker Lewandowski onto the bar, the ball bounces out into the path of Sergi Roberto, who calmly guides it home from 10 yards! That caps a great game for the home side.
So, what’s next?
Barcelona faces a severe test of their credentials as title challengers when they travel to Sevilla next weekend.
Shortly before kicking off their Champions League campaign at home to Czech champions Viktoria Plzen.
Relieved that their tough start to the fixture list is ending, Valladolid host Almeria next time out.
