Barcelona maintained their lead atop the LaLiga standings courtesy a 3-0 victory over Alaves on Sunday, with Robert Lewandowski the star figure thanks to a hat-trick.
Hansi Flick has brought the best out of the striker who, in the Bayern shirt, scored goals against any team that came his way.
It isn’t that he had forgotten how to score Barcelona, and his start to the season has shown that. He has scored 10 goals in nine games, and only one from the penalty spot.
EFE
The Pole proved at the Mendizorroza Stadium that age is just a number by scoring a hat-trick in the first half hour of the match to shatter the illusions of an Alaves team that is tough to beat at their home ground, but were quickly put to bed on Sunday.
Barcelona started the match with more intensity than Alaves, who failed to protect themselves with high backline. After three minutes Raphinha scored a goal that was disallowed for offside by Lamine Yamal.
The muscular injury suffered by Ferran Torres, who was substituted after five minutes, wasn’t a setback for Flick, who brought on Eric Garca and freed Pedri from midfield. But Barcelona’s captain Raphinha, who played a decisive role in Lewandowski’s first two goals, was the star of the show from the start.
First, he sent a free-kick in the six-yard box for Lewandowski to beat Abqar and head home from close range and, later, he put the ball on a plate for the striker after finishing a great counter-attack from his own half. Raphinha himself could have scored the third but Sivera saved a one-on-one.
Alaves were outplayed, hardly created any danger and it was clear that Luis Garca Plaza’s 100th match as coach was not going to be rewarded. The score was extended just past the half-hour mark after a triangulation between Casad, Eric Garca and Lewandowski, who crossed the ball with subtlety far from Sivera’s reach.
Pedri also had a chance to make it four, but did not control the ball well. With nothing to lose, Alaves opened up a little and in the last minute of the first half Toni Martnez beat Inaki Pea, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
The second half started with Alaves trying to score early to try to get into the game. And they almost succeeded with a shot against the post by Toni Martinez after five minutes. After the initial Alaves attack, Barcelona went back to controlling the game without risking more than they should.
Luis Garca revamped his attack by bringing on Kike Garca and Conechny, but it didn’t work either. Midway through the second half, Flick rested Lamine Yamal, who played little part in the match, and Ansu Fati came on for him.
De Jong returns
With 10 minutes to go, there was another piece of good news for Barcelona as De Jong, who had not played an official match since April, made his comeback.
An important piece in the Blaugrana midfield for everything that is to come this season. In the 85th minute, another goal was disallowed for an Alaves offside, but the scoreboard remained unchanged.
Barcelona goes into the second international break with less of a lead over Madrid than in the first, but with some momentum.
