Barcelona 5-2 Valencia: Fati Shines in Blaugrana Demolition over Los Che

Some players come out of nowhere and make a name for themselves with one or two good performances. Others are top youngsters that simply take advantage of their first chance they find within the senior team. Ansu Fati is the latest example of the latter phenomenon.

Ernesto Valverde gave Fati the chance to start on Saturday against Valencia, and the promising youngster delivered. He had a goal and an assist within the first six minutes of the match, and was one of Barca’s best players during the side’s huge 5-1 thrashing of Valencia at Camp Nou. In the end, the 16-year-old played 60 minutes and delivered an inspiring performance in front of the home crowd.

A strike from Fati and another from Frenkie de Jong put Barcelona up by two within the first 10 minutes. Kevin Gameiro pulled one back for Valencia in the 27th minute, but that would be everything Los Che would muster on offense. Barcelona had no problems to control the game and, had they been more accurate, they would have been able to bolster their lead before the break. They didn’t, however, so the first half ended with a 2-1 lead for Los Blaugranas.

Suarez steals the show in the second half

As mentioned above, Fati left the pitch in the 60th minute and when he headed back to the bench, Barca were up 3-1 thanks to a strike from Gerard Pique. Luis Suarez – who was returning from injury – was brought in to replace Fati, and the Uruguay international made his presence felt almost instantly. He needed just one minute to find the back of the net, extending Barca’s lead to three goals.

Suarez wasn’t done, however, and he added another strike in the 82nd minute following an assist from Antoine Griezmann. Barca have now scored five goals in each of their first two home Liga games this season, showing they really play at their top form at the Camp Nou.

Maximiliano Gomez, who came off the bench for Valencia, pulled one back on stoppage time for Los Che. But it wasn’t enough, and Barca cruised their way towards a huge win. One where Fati and Suarez took central stage and fully dominated with their play.

Match Report

FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen (6); Semedo (7), Pique (7), Lenglet (5), Jordi Alba (6); Arthur (7) (Vidal (-), 73’), Sergio Busquets (7), de Jong (8) (Rakitic (5), 70’); Carles Perez (6), Griezmann (7), Fati (8) (Suarez (8), 60’)

Bench: Iñaki Peña (GK), Sergi Roberto, Todibo, Junior Firpo

Valencia: Cillessen (4); Wass (5), Garay (5), Gabriel (6), Gaya (5); Ferran Torres (5) (Lee Kang-In (4), 67’), Coquelin (6), Dani Parejo (5), Goncalo Guedes (5) (Cheryshev (6), 67’); Gameiro (7), Rodrigo (6) (Maxi Gomez (5), 72’)

Bench: Domenech (GK), Jaume Costa, Diakhaby, Kondogbia

Goals: Fati (1-0, 2’), de Jong (2-0, 7’), Gameiro (2-1, 27’), Pique (3-1, 51’), Suarez (4-1, 61’), Suarez (5-1, 82’), Gomez (5-2, 90+1’)

Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez

Yellow Cards: Jordi Alba (BAR); Rodrigo, Lee-Kang In, Gomez, Cheryshev (VAL)

Red Cards: None