August 31, (THEWILL) – Barcelona maintained their perfect start to the La Liga season with a 7-0 thrashing of Real Valladolid at Camp Nou. Raphinha stole the show with his first career hat-trick, helping the Catalan giants claim their fourth consecutive league victory under new head coach Hansi Flick.
The Brazilian winger opened the scoring after 20 minutes, cleverly finishing past Karl Hein following a precise pass from Pau Cubarsi. Robert Lewandowski doubled Barcelona’s lead with his fourth goal of the campaign before Jules Kounde added a third just before half-time with a powerful strike into the top corner.
Raphinha completed his hat-trick in the second half, netting in the 62nd and 70th minutes to put the game beyond doubt. Dani Olmo, making his home debut, continued his impressive start at the club by scoring his second goal in as many matches. Ferran Torres rounded off the scoring late on, benefiting from Raphinha’s unselfish assist.
The result sees Barcelona enter the international break at the top of the La Liga table. Flick has become the first Barcelona manager since the 2017/2018 season to win his opening four league games in charge, setting a promising tone for his tenure at the Catalan club.
With this dominant performance, Barcelona have sent a clear message to their title rivals. The team’s attacking chops were on full display, with Raphinha leading the charge and other forwards contributing to the goal tally.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
