Lamine Yamal leads Barcelona to 5-0 rout of Valencia

Lamine Yamal answered doubts about his fitness and early-season form by scoring twice in Barcelona’s 5-0 victory over Valencia at Mestalla.

The young forward started despite training separately the previous day after taking a knock. He opened the scoring in the sixth minute by lifting a chipped ball over goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski, then added his second in the 84th minute. Another Yamal goal was ruled out for a marginal offside.

Fermín López made it 2-0 in the 22nd minute, Raphinha scored early in the second half, and Pedri added the fourth in the 78th. Raphinha’s goal was his sixth in four league matches, putting him atop the scoring chart ahead of Rayo Vallecano striker Sergio Camello, who had five.

Barcelona controlled the match against a Valencia side whose supporters protested against club owner Peter Lim. Valencia created little beyond a chance for Danjuma, while Dimitrievski’s saves prevented an even heavier defeat. Gabriel Jesus came on in the 81st minute for his first Barcelona appearance but did not score.

The result kept the defending champions alone at the top of LaLiga with four wins from four and a three-point lead over Real Madrid and Betis. “It was a fantastic match, we controlled it from the beginning and that is what I want to see,” Flick told Movistar+.

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It was a fantastic match, we controlled it from the beginning and that is what I want to see.