Five-star Barcelona turn on the style to thrash Young Boys in Champions League
After falling to a shock defeat to Osasuna at the weekend, Hansi Flick would have demanded a response from his Barça side, and his players duly responded. Dominating possession in the early stages, the Catalan outfit made their domination count inside the opening 10 minutes.
A spell of possession culminated with Lamine Yamal feeding Raphinha down the right before the Brazilian picked out Robert Lewandowski at the back post, and the Pole duly slammed the ball home - extending the Swiss side’s torrid run in the UCL of keeping just one clean sheet in 20 matches.
After weathering the early storm, Young Boys looked to be growing into the game after the half-hour, but Barca quickly put a stop to their growing momentum by surging into a three-goal lead before the break.
First, Raphinha was on hand to sweep home a rebound after Pedri’s shot was blocked, before the Spanish midfielder maestro delivered a free-kick that was powered home by a towering Inigo Martínez header.
Showing no signs of mercy, Barca picked up right where they left off after the restart and netted a fourth goal through Lewandowski, who nodded in from Martinez’s brilliant header back across goal from a corner.
Patrick Rahmen made a double switch in an attempt to salvage some pride for YB, and the changes seemed to spark some life into the visitors.
Just after the hour mark, the away side had their two best chances in quick succession. First, Joel Monteiro struck the woodwork with a powerful effort, before Jaouen Hadjam had an effort cleared off the line.
However, Barca soon regained control of the contest, which was in part thanks to the introduction of Frenkie de Jong, who made his return after over five months out.
Sailing to victory, the Blaugrana added a fifth goal late on after Alejandro Balde’s cross into the box was turned into his own net by Mohamed Camara - capping off a comfortable evening for the Catalans, who after their surprise defeat away to Monaco on matchday one, knew the importance of securing three points ahead of their tie against Bayern Munich next time out.
Young Boys’ struggles continue - the 17-time Swiss champions sit second-bottom domestically, and have fallen to heavy defeats in their opening two UCL games.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Raphinha (Barcelona)
