Villarreal 1-5 Barcelona: Raphinha and Lewandowski at the double

Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both scored twice to help Barcelona thrash Villarreal 5-1 on Sunday.

Barcelona suffered their first defeat of the season when they went down to Monaco in the Champions League in midweek, but Hansi Flick’s team bounced back in style in LaLiga.

They have now won their opening six league matches under Flick to start the season.

Lewandowski found the net twice inside 35 minutes before Villarreal pulled a quick one back through Ayoze Perez.

But Pablo Torre made it 3-1 after the break and Raphinha completed the rout for Barca with two goals late in the second half.

Barcelona did, however, lose goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen just before half-time after the German goalkeeper fell and was visibly in pain as he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.

The Blaugrana remain top of the standings as they preserved a four-point lead over defending champions Real Madrid in second.

1 – #Barcelona are the only team in Europe’s top five leagues to have at least two players who have scored 5+ goals this season (Robert Lewandowski with 6 and Raphinha with 5). Duo. pic.twitter.com/fxMtK9OggV

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) September 22, 2024

Data Debrief: Ten in a row for free-scoring Barca

That is now 10 LaLiga wins on the spin for Barca over the course of this season and the end of last. That is their longest such winning streak since 2017, when Lionel Messi was still running the show.

Barca have now scored 23 goals in all competitions this season, a tally bettered only by Bayern Munich (29).

The Blaugrana’s five goals on Sunday came from 4.08 xG, though Villarreal did have chances of their own, accumulating 2.11 xG, so Flick will want to see his team tighten up at the back.