Barcelona crushed the Bats to close the gap to third-placed Betis.
Barcelona defeated Valencia 4-1 in their La Liga game on Sunday. The Catalans bounced back from their underwhelming Europa League draw with a crucial win over Jose Bordalas’ side.
Auba steals the show!
Barcelona dominated the game early on as they comfortably gained possession at Mestalla. Following several failed attacks, the Catalans finally opened the scoring through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the 23rd minute.
The Gabonese star scored his Barcelona goal by converting an inch-perfect long ball from Jordi Alba. Only nine minutes later, the Catalans doubled their lead through Frenkie de Jong, who seemed to be enjoying his newfound form.
However, the first half nightmare was not over for the hosts. Following another brilliant piece of buildup play, Aubameyang completed his brace by converting an assist from Gavi.
Valencia started the second half with a much-improved rhythm while keeping Barca at bay defensively. Carlos Soler scored the hosts’ first goal after a surprising wave of attacks from the hosts.
Valencia looked like they could score more goals, but a stunning strike from Pedri killed off their hopes. Following a half-clearance, the Spaniard fired a brilliant volley past Giorgi Mamardashvili from behind the box to make it 4-1.
Valencia came close to scoring several more times in the final ten minutes, but they were not able to come back into the game.
Xavi Hernandez’s side continued their five-game unbeaten run after another brilliant attacking display. The Catalans are now only two points away from third-placed Real Betis as they hope to return to La Liga’s frontrunners.
Barca will now prepare to face Napoli in the second leg of their Europa League playoff while Valencia must meet Mallorca in La Liga.
Player Ratings
Valencia: Mamardashvili (5); Foulquier (5), Diakhaby (6), Alderete (5), Gaya (4); Moriba (6), Guillamon (5), Soler (7); Duro (6), Guedes (6), Gil (7).
Bench: Andre (6), Gomez (6), Comert (5), Lato (6), Racic (6).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (7); Dest (6), Araujo (6), Garcia (7), Alba (7); Gavi (7), Busquets (7), De Jong (7); Dembele (8), Aubameyang (8), Torres (6).
Bench: Gonzalez (6), Pedri (7), Mingueza (6), Traore (5), L. De Jong (6).
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