Barcelona 5-2 Valencia: 4 talking points

After an indifferent start to their LaLiga title defence, Barcelona returned to winning ways after the international break with a 5-2 victory over Valencia at Camp Nou.

The game against Los Che took on extra importance for Barcelona after Real Madrid had won their own fixture earlier in the day, while Atletico Madrid's 2-0 defeat to Real Sociedad meant that the Catalans had an opportunity to close the gap on the early pacesetters.

Club captain Lionel Messi was still ruled out due to injury, but Valverde had the services of Luis Suarez although the Uruguayan was only fit to start off the bench.

The Blaugrana got into a 2-0 lead as early as the seventh minute, but a well taken strike by Kevin Gameiro in the 28th minute halved the deficit.

However, three goals in the second half from Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez confirmed the result for the home side even though Maxi Gomez scored a very late consolation for Valencia.

The win sees Barcelona climb to 4th on the standings pending the conclusion of other matches, and here we shall be highlighting four talking points from the match.

#1 Ansu Fati continues with his upward trajectory

On matchday 2, Ansu Fati made history when he became the second youngest player to represent Barcelona in LaLiga history against Real Betis, and a just a week later, he made further history as the second youngest player to score a goal in LaLiga.

The 16-year-old is one of the highest rated players in La Masia, and big things are expected of him at Barcelona.

After starring off the bench in each of his first two Barcelona appearances, Fati was handed a start against Valencia, and it took just four minutes for him to create further history.

The prodigiously talented Fati received a pass from Frenkie de Jong on the edge of the box, and he unleashed an unstoppable shot into the corner to become the youngest goalscorer in Camp Nou history.

Three minutes later, he showed great composure to return the favour to Frenkie de Jong, while he was a constant menace to the Valencia backline, with his close control, dribbling and eagerness to shoot from distance keeping the Valencia defence on the backfoot.

Ansu Fati was substituted for Luis Suarez after 60 minutes to a rapturous standing ovation from the Nou Camp fans, and with the form he has shown, he is undoubtedly a star of the future.

#2 Luis Suarez makes goalscoring return

With Lionel Messi ruled out due to injury at the start of the season, Barcelona's season went from bad to worse when star striker Luis Suarez pulled up with a calf problem just 30 minutes into the season's opener against Athletic Bilbao.

Despite an increase in criticisms over his performance in recent years, the Uruguayan international remains an elite performer whose goals are central to everything Barcelona hope to achieve this season.

It would have therefore come as welcome news for fans of the Blaugrana when reports filtered out that Suarez had made a return to full fitness.

Although he started the game from the bench, the 32-year-old was introduced in the 60th minute, and needed less than a minute to make his mark, showing great instinct to casually lift the ball into the back of the net.

With eight minutes left, Suarez got his brace on the night and 12th against Valencia in all competitions, placing the ball excellently past his former teammate to put Barcelona 5-1 up.

His goal was icing on the cake for Barcelona after a dominant display, and with Barcelona's season about to get more tedious, Luis Suarez's return to fitness comes at a perfect time as his performance against Valencia showed.

#3 Defensive frailties remain an issue for Barcelona

When Kevin Gameiro placed the ball past Marc Andre ter Stegen in the 29th minute, it meant that Barcelona have conceded in each of their four LaLiga matches till date.

Incredibly, Barcelona have conceded seven goals from just four matches, with three of those four games seeing them concede two goals.

Against Valencia, Barcelona dominated most of the possession, putting Valencia on the backfoot for majority of the match, but there were occasions when the visitors found ways to slice open the Catalan backline, especially in the 10 minutes after they got their goal.

More worryingly for Valverde would be his side's penchant for conceding late goals, with their defence having been breached from the 85th minute or later in each of their four matches thus far.

With a midfield and attack with the quality on offer at Barcelona, goals are all but guaranteed to be scored, but moving ahead, their defensive frailties have to be addressed if the Blaugrana are to achieve their goals this season.

#4 More joy off the bench for Barcelona

Barcelona unarguably have one of the most complete squads in all of Europe, with there being at least one quality replacement in each position in the current squad.

Squad depth is an important requisite for success at the top level, and Ernesto Valverde must be pleased with the abundance of quality players at his disposal at Camp Nou.

Given the abundance of talented players within the squad, almost no player bar a few are guaranteed of their starting spots, and this would keep everyone on their toes to put their best foot forward whenever they get the chance to play.

Luis Suarez' goals saw him join Arturo Vidal, Ansu Fati and Arthur Melo in coming off the bench to score for Barcelona in LaLiga this season.

This means that five of Barcelona's 12 league goals have come off substitutes, which underlines just how much quality they have within their squad.

Edited by Kingshuk Kusari

Barcelona 5-2 Valencia: 4 talking points | LaLiga 2019/2020

#1 Ansu Fati continues with his upward trajectory

#2 Luis Suarez makes goalscoring return

#3 Defensive frailties remain an issue for Barcelona

#4 More joy off the bench for Barcelona