Barca's tactical shake-up leads to a 5-0 half-time disaster, but one star's struggles threaten their redemption arc
Barcelona produced a brutal performance to crush Valencia, with the scoreboard showing a 5-0 lead at half-time. Manager Hansi Flick's lineup gamble paid off, but goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny's shaky form remains a concern.
Anyone who has watched Barcelona dismantle Valencia and then looked at the LaLiga table will struggle to understand how this team is not dominating the league. The brutal 7-1 thrashing of Flick's team was a brutal beauty, depending on which side you're on. There is no team more exciting, ruthless or explosive than Barça. Consistency, however, is a different story. But when they are in sync, the Catalans look unbeatable.
Barcelona tested from all sides
Fresh from a final Champions League escape against Benfica in Lisbon, Flick faced a critical LaLiga test against Valencia. The Spanish Super Cup, the Copa del Rey and the European competitions had masked Barça's domestic problems as they came into the match 10 points behind leaders Real Madrid, having secured just six points from their last 24. Their last league win came in November 3. against Espanyol – before Black Friday.
Flick shook things up. He kept Szczesny in goal despite his midweek blunder and put Ronald Araújo, Gavi and Robert Lewandowski on the bench. The changes came on a day when Pedri was ruled out due to gastroenteritis.
The German's plan worked better than expected. Barcelona's hurricane of first-half goals – one of the most dominant displays in recent memory – proved Flick right.
Valencia stunned by Barcelona's changes
Valencia had no answer to Barça's new line-up. Frenkie de Jong struck first in the 2nd minute after an assist from 16-year-old Lamine Yamal. Ferran Torres added a second in the 8th minute and Raphinha made it 3-0 before the 15th, finishing off a sublime pass from Fermín López. López himself then scored a fourth goal, thanks to a sharp through ball from Pau Cubarsí.
Another controversial Flick setup, Szczesny almost gave Valencia a penalty with a reckless challenge, but fortune was in Barca's favour. The VAR ruled that the game started with a foul by Valencia player José Gayà on Jules Koundé. To cap the first-half humiliation, Yamal sliced through Valencia's defense and set up Raphinha for a shot that rattled the crossbar. López took the rebound with a technical volley to make it 5-0. Valencia looked lost; Barcelona was a steamroller.
For Valencia, the match felt like never ending from the first minutes. After the break, Barça made it clear that it would not slow down. Raphinha, López and De Jong played as if they were hunting for a comeback and did not protect a lead.
To their credit, Valencia never gave up, nor gave in to the temptation to interrupt the game by playing dirty. And they did get a consolation goal when Szczesny botched a routine save, allowing Hugo Duro to tap in amid the struggle.
Raphinha left the pitch to a standing ovation from the Barcelona fans, with Valencia players wondering if they would join in.
But for Valencia, what came next was perhaps worse than what had come before. Because when Raphinha left, Lewandowski came on. The Polish striker, who left Kylian Mbappé behind in the Pichichi race (LaLiga's top scorer award), scored Barça's sixth – their 100th goal this season – with another assist from López, who played like an unstoppable machine until the final whistle .
The challenge now for Barcelona? Learning to win without needing this level of perfection.
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