Barcelona no longer had the right to make mistakes. The Catalan club, in search of recovery after four consecutive games without a Liga victory, was imperative to win to stay in the Champions League race, occupying, before the match, 4th place with 39 points. Opposite, Valence, in great difficulty in 19th place, was looking for crucial points to avoid relegation. With only 4 points behind the first non -relegation, Alavés, the Valencians found themselves in a negative spiral that they hoped to stop with this match. But the Barcelona offensive armada was quick to strike. From the 3rd minute, Lamine Yamal combined with Fermin on the right side, before serving Frenkie de Jong, who opened the right foot (1-0). Barely five minutes later, Ferran Torres, well placed in the surface, resumed a center to double the setting of an unstoppable strike at the right post (8th, 2-0).
The Catalans did not slow down and flew over the first minutes of the match. In the 14th, Raphinha, alone against the goalkeeper, concluded the action by sending the ball in the empty goal (3-0), thus offering a comfortable lead to his team. Powerless in the face of Barcelona domination, the Carlos Corberán team could not do anything to prevent Fermín López from scoring a new goal and aggravating the scoring at 4-0 (25th). While Valence believed to glimpse a glimmer of hope with obtaining a precious penalty, the referee finally canceled his decision by returning to a Gaya fault on Koundé upstream of the action (35th).
Barcelona seals his victory
The Blaugranas closed this first act with the same intensity as they had started it. After a strike from Raphinha pushed back by the post, Fermín López recovered the ball and found the path of the nets of a strike in the right side of the goal (45th+4, 5-0). Upon returning from the locker room, Ferran Torres almost aggravated the scoring, but his shot came close to the crossbar (55th). Valence, slightly better from the break, reduced the gap thanks to Diego Lopez, who perfectly served Duro in the surface to deceive Szczesny (59th, 5-1). However, Lewandowski, who came into play shortly after, quickly extinguished Valencian Espoirs. On a pass of Fermin, the Pole shot Mamardashvili with an unstoppable shot (66th, 6-1).
Tarrega, unhappy, offered a 7th goal to the Barcelona by deviating a center in his own nets (74th, 7-1). A controlled victory for Barcelona, who finds the podium and settled in 3rd place de Liga with 42 points. The Blaugranas remain behind Real Madrid, leader with 49 points, and Atlético de Madrid, his dolphin. This large success offers ideal preparation before the Atalanta reception for the last day of the group phase of the Champions League. For his part, Valence, still 19th, continues his bad series in the league.