La Liga 2019/20: Barcelona 5-2 Valencia, three reasons why the Catalan giants won

Barcelona are now just two points behind La Liga leaders Atlético Madrid, courtesy a five-star display on Saturday night at Camp Nou. A slick Barcelona side were rampant at home against a well drilled Valencia and looked at ease in putting five past Albert Celades’s men.

Blaugrana starlet Ansu Fati scored just after two minutes before setting up Frenkie de Jong in the 7th minute to make it 2-0 inside ten minutes. Valencia hit one back before halftime through Kevin Gameiro, who finished off a nice team move to bring the away side back into the tie.

Barcelona wasted no time in restoring their two-goal advantage in the second half as Gerard Piqué scored the third goal for the Catalans after a well-hit Griezmann shot was not properly controlled by Valencia goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen. Then, Luis Suárez scored twice off the bench for the Catalans and put the tie to bed. However, Maximiliano Gómez scored a late consolation goal for the visitors to reach the final scoreline of 5-2.

With this important three points, Barcelona have now slowly crept into the top four with seven points in their kitty, one less than their arch-rivals Real Madrid, who are currently sitting in the 2nd position.

So, without further ado, let’s have a look at the three main reasons behind Barcelona’s emphatic victory.

#3 Barcelona were quick off the starting blocks

If there was any manual written for an away side on how to take away a positive result from any Camp Nou fixture, the first paragraph will be dedicated to the importance of preventing Barcelona from scoring an early goal.

Barcelona were too hot to handle for Valencia in the early minutes of the game. It took Barcelona only two minutes to break the deadlock and within just seven minutes into the tie, Barcelona were 2-0 ahead. And from there, it became an uphill task for the away side to script a comeback.

If Barcelona didn’t manage to find a way to score early, it could have been a very tricky fixture for the Catalan giants, given that Valencia had the firepower to catch Barcelona on counter if they kept things tight at the back. Not to forget, Barcelona were also missing the services of their talismanic captain Lionel Messi.

#2 Perfect display from the midfielders

After a series of experiments in the middle of the park, Ernesto Valverde might have finally been able to solve the midfield puzzle for the Catalans. Barcelona’s midfield trio of Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and Arthur Melo have looked like the perfect foil for each other and provided a perfect admixture of energy, vision and control.

Sergio Busquets has looked rejuvenated at the heart of the Barcelona midfield. The way, the Spanish international controlled the tempo of the game, was close to peak "Busquets". He provided the screen for the back four and freed Frenkie de Jong more from his defensive duties.

Barcelona’s new recruit, Frenkie de Jong played a perfect game on Saturday night. The Dutch international completed a total of 54 passes on the night with an unbelievable accuracy rate of 100%. The recently crowned UEFA Midfielder of the Year provided three key passes to his teammates with an assist to brag about. The Dutchman also marked his sensational display with his debut goal for Barcelona on the night.

Meanwhile, Arthur Melo recreated a Xavi-like performance with a dominant display at the middle of the park. Arthur completed a total of 66 passes in the 70 odd minutes he played on the night. The Brazilian also provided an important assist to round off his magnificent display for the Catalans.

#1 Ansu Fati once again shines for Blaugrana

Barcelona’s 16-year-old wonder-kid Ansu Fati has once again made the headlines after putting up a superb attacking display on Saturday night. The teenager had another stellar showing as he scored the first goal and set up the second to give Barcelona breathing space inside 10 minutes.

Fati looked hungry and sharp from the first minute and looked the best player on the pitch in the first half. The 16-year-old constantly asked questions of the back-four of Valencia with his slick touches and crazy dribbling skills. Fati came very close to scoring his second on the night as he unleashed some rockets after cutting in from the left-hand side of the Blaugrana attack.

Just after few days since becoming the second youngest player to don the Barcelona shirt in history, Fati has now become the youngest ever player to score and assist in a single game for Barcelona.

To put things into perspective, Fati has now scored two goals in just three matches for Barcelona, it took Lionel Messi 13 games to score his first two for the Catalan giants.

Edited by S Chowdhury