Barcelona kicked off their defence of La Liga with a stylish 5-0 demolition of Vilareal in the Camp Nou.
Fresh from their Super Cup win over Porto on Friday night the Catalan’s turned in another spectacular performance with Lionel Messi scoring twice with further goals from Cesc Fabregas Alexis Sanchez and Thiago Alcantara.
Ominously for their rivals Real Madrid the official Barcelona website titled their match report as ‘Improved version of the Champions (5-0).’
Capturing most attention was former Arsenal skipper Fabregas with the Barca site drooling about the impact of their new midfielder.
It read: “In his debut in the League with Barça, and at the Camp Nou, Cesc showed all his qualities, from helping out in defence, to getting into the box, without forgetting the combinations with his teammates.
“From one of these combinations, in the 44th minute, he made it 2-0. Messi, well inside the Villareal half, spotted Cesc’s run, and hit a superb through ball, that Fabregas took in his stride, rounded Diego Lopez, and slid the ball into the net.”
Describing the second half as total domination it continued: “In the second half the story was the same. Same script, same actors, but 2 of the forwards hadn’t scored yet .
“The goal to make it 3-0, right at the start of the second half, fell to the Chilean, Alexis Sanchez, making his debut at the Camp Nou, who hit a low drive into the back of the net after a fantastic pass from Thiago. The striker from Tocopilla now knows what it’s like to score in the Camp Nou.
“The fourth goal came from the best player in the world. Iniesta hit a brilliant pass into space, and Messi rounded Diego Lopez, to make it 4-0. The goal was Messi’s 100th in the Camp Nou, a truly amazing statistic.
“Four goals ahead, Barca took their foot off the gas a bit, but not much. Pep took the opportunity to make three changes, and on came Xavi, Villa, and Dos Santos, but there was time to marvel once again with a fifth goal.
“Again, a superbly timed pass from Thiago, two assists and a goal in the game, reached Messi in the 6 yard box, who slotted the ball past the keeper to make it 5-0, in the 74th minute.
“Then, in the last fifteen minutes, Barça stayed faithful to their style of play. Playing one and two touch football they had Villarreal chasing shadows, just like they had over the 90 minutes. A fabulous start to the season against a rival who are playing in the Champions League.”
The next generation of home grown Barcelona superstars are in action against the Celtic u-19 squad tomorrow night at Celtic Park in the Next Gen Series, kick-off 7.30pm.
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