Barcelona runs riot smashing seven past Valencia
Barcelona returned to its most ruthless form as it crushed Valencia 7-1 in LaLiga, scoring five of the goals in a brutal first half display.
The result moved Hansi Flick's side within three points of second-placed Atletico Madrid, with league leader Real Madrid seven further ahead after its win over Real Valladolid.
Flick made a raft of changes to his side from a wild midweek UEFA Champions League win over Benfica, and watched his side go ahead within three minutes of kick-off contest when Frenki de Jong slotted home an assist from Lamine Yamal.
Ferran Torres scored the second against his old club just five minutes later, and captain Raphina, who scored the winner in the 5-4 midweek win in Portugal, made it 3-0 with not even a quarter of an hour passed on the clock.
Valencia was unfortunate not to win a penalty after Andre Almeida was scythed down in the box by Marc Casado in the 22nd minute, and the misery mounted further after Fermin Lopez bagged a quickfire double to make it 5-0 before the break.
In between those goals, the visitors were denied a penalty for a second time.
Barca goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny hauled down Hugo Duro in the box and the referee immediately pointed to the spot, but his video assistant decided Jules Kounde had been fouled at the other end of the pitch in the lead-up, and the on-field referee agreed after watching the incident play out in full on his pitchside monitor.
Valencia, though, was the first to score in the second half, Duro making up for that earlier disappointment with a tap-in on 58 minutes, but it was only temporary relief from the Barca onslaught for the Bats.
Robert Lewandowski came off the bench to fire home a sixth for the hosts on 66 minutes before another attack ended with Cesar Tarrega deflecting the ball into his own net with 15 minutes still to play.
The fourth official mercifully deemed there would be just two minutes of added time, and that expired without further incident, ending a thoroughly depressing day for Valencia, but an emphatically positive one for Barcelona.
While fourth-placed Athletic Club could only manage a 0-0 draw against Leganes in its match, the gap between it and Barca is still only two points as the title race continues to surprise.
Valencia, meanwhile, remains second bottom after a torrid season thus far, only one point ahead of bottom side Valladolid after its thrashing at the hands of Madrid and still four points from safety.
