Barca hammer Alaves 6-1 to retain Liga top spot

Raphinha and Lamine Yamal struck twice each as Barcelona thrashed Alaves 6-1 on Saturday to reclaim their La Liga lead and get back on track after two damaging defeats. Earlier Atletico Madrid, second, earned a solid 2-0 win at Levante, but Barca moved back two points clear of the Rojiblancos by routing the Basque visitors at Camp Nou. Still stinging after a Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain and then last weekend’s La Liga home Clasico loss against rivals Real Madrid, Hansi Flick’s side found their groove once more.

Raphinha netted twice in the first half, either side of a Fermin Lopez strike, and Yamal found the net just before the interval. Teenage winger Yamal netted again midway through the second half and substitute Anthony Gordon chipped home Barca’s sixth, before Mariano Diaz pulled one back for Alaves. There was a minute’s silence at the start of each of the day’s matches in memory of the 69 victims of the train crash in the province of Toledo that rocked Spain this week.

Flick lined up with Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong playing at centre-back and youngster Brian Farinas making his first start at right-back, amid a spate of defensive injuries. It did not hamper the champions. Barcelona moved ahead in the eighth minute, with La Liga’s top scorer Raphinha continuing his red-hot form. Midfield maestro Pedri played in Lopez, who pulled the ball across for the Brazil international to bundle home.

Alaves came close through Abde Rebbach before Lopez doubled Barcelona’s lead in the 23rd minute. Yamal slipped the midfielder in and, from a tight angle, Lopez smashed the ball across goal and fortuitously in at the far post, seemingly intending to cross it. Karim Adeyemi and Yamal both missed glorious chances from close range to expand on Barca’s lead, with Raphinha showing the duo how to do it as he bagged his 15th league goal.

Lopez sent the forward through on goal and Raphinha produced a lethal finish across Antonio Sivera. Perhaps frustrated by his miss, Yamal smashed home the fourth with an instinctive low strike from the edge of the box in first half stoppage time. Adeyemi blazed another presentable chance over the crossbar early in the second half after Lopez unselfishly set him up.

Yamal got Barca’s fifth with a neat dink over the goalkeeper after substitute Gabriel Jesus played him through on goal. Gordon produced a similar finish for Barca’s sixth and the only tarnish on their evening was former Real Madrid striker Diaz netting late on. – Seven in a row – Earlier in Valencia Diego Simeone’s Atletico had temporarily climbed a point clear of the Catalan giants with goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone against Levante.

Atletico recorded a seventh consecutive league win to continue their strong form and put pressure on the reigning champions. “I’m very happy with the team’s work,” Atletico coach Simeone told Movistar. “We’re very far from the end of the season… we’ll keep going game by game.” Alex Baena, the visitors’ main creative outlet, set up both goals as Simeone recorded his 344th La Liga win at the helm of Atletico, matching the club’s record set by Luis Aragones.

“I don’t feel it much as mine, but it belongs to my players, everyone who has been with me for so many years,” said Simeone, who started coaching Atletico in 2011. Atletico host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday before welcoming Barca to the Metropolitano stadium next weekend in La Liga. On Sunday, Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, third, visit Racing Santander among other fixtures.

AFP