Barcelona bounce back with 6-1 win over Alaves
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Oct 31 : Barcelona enjoyed an emphatic 6-1 home win over Alaves on Saturday, with Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, Lamine Yamal and Anthony Gordon all on the scoresheet, as the hosts responded after losses to Real Madrid and Paris St Germain.
Barca top LaLiga on 30 points, two ahead of Atletico Madrid, who beat Levante 2-0 earlier on Saturday, with Real Madrid six points off the pace before visiting Racing Santander on Sunday.
The opening exchanges at Camp Nou were punctuated by frustrated shouts from home manager Hansi Flick in response to Barcelona's defending, but Alaves found it impossible to live with their fluid attacking play.
After Pedri's pass sliced through the Alaves midfield, Fermin crossed for Raphinha to open the scoring in the eighth minute.
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A brief Alaves reaction put the hosts under pressure but once Fermin netted from a tight angle in the 23rd minute, the game was one-way traffic in Barcelona's favour.
Tenacious and incisive throughout, Fermin assisted Raphinha again in the 41st minute after winning possession back.
Lamine rifled a bouncing ball low into the corner to complete a slick passing move, adding Barcelona's fourth in first-half stoppage time.
Flick's side continued to look sharp and Karim Adeyemi spurned a chance to round off more excellent work from Fermin early in the second half. Lamine was set up by substitute Gabriel Jesus for his second in the 64th minute.
Rodri was visibly delighted with the weight of his pass behind the Alaves defence, which Gordon converted for Barcelona's sixth with nine minutes remaining.
The Spain midfielder was equally furious with himself after his giveaway allowed Mariano Diaz to add a consolation goal for Alaves three minutes later.
"This is what I want to see after two defeats. How we reacted, it was good and in the right way," Flick said.
MISSING VERVE
Barca showed the verve they were missing in the 2-1 Clasico defeat by visitors Real, after which Flick said his team lacked freshness, and a 4-2 loss at PSG in the Champions League.
Aston Villa visit the Catalan side on Tuesday in the Champions League in what is likely to be a sterner test.
Midfielders Brian Farinas and Frenkie de Jong started in defence for Barcelona due to injuries, and Flick did not confirm when Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen or Eric Garcia would return.
"We have to survive these two games (before the international break). We don't know who is coming back," said Flick.
Diego Simeone won his 344th match as Atletico Madrid manager in a victory over Levante, equalling Luis Aragones' record in 192 fewer games.
Goals from Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone in each half were enough to secure a seventh straight victory in domestic competition.
Fourth-placed Real Betis are revelling in their best start to a LaLiga season through 11 games since 1934, following a 2-1 win over Malaga.
Rayo Vallecano moved level on 12 points with Celta Vigo after beating the Galician side 3-0, despite having played a game less.
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