Dominant Barcelona cruise past Real Valladolid at home

Raphinha scored a hat-trick as a dominant Barcelona cruised to a 7-0 win at home against Real Valladolid.

The Catalan side were faced with the opportunity to head into the international break as LaLiga leaders and with a perfect four-out-of-four wins to start the season.

Barcelona did just that and not only did they get the win, but they played well in the process.

Raphinha got the goal fest started in the 20th minute as he chested down a sublime long-range pass from Pau Cubarsi. The Brazilian did well to create enough space between him and the defender before shooting it past the keeper.

Four minutes later, Robert Lewandowski got into the party.

This time, Lewandowski took advantage of a pass from Lamine Yamal. The Polish striker broke the offside trap, leaving him with a one-on-one against the keeper. The keeper got a hand to Lewandowski's shot but it wasn't enough to stop Barcelona from doubling their lead.

Just when it looked like Barcelona were going to be held to just the goals in the first half, Jules Kounde took advantage off a rebound from a corner. As he was falling, he poked the ball well beyond the outstretched arm of the Valladolid keeper to put a bow on a dominant first half display.

That dominance continued in the second half with Barcelona coming close on three occasions to score a fourth.

The Blaugrana finally broke through in the 64th minute with Raphinha scoring his second. This one was a bit more fortuitous as the ball found his way to him after a couple of attempts from the defenders to clear it.

Raphinha got his hat-trick, putting away the ball after he was slipped in by Lamine Yamal who continues to provide assists to seemingly everyone in attack. The third goal was well deserved for Raphinha who had an almost perfect match.

A sign of this team's attitude under Hansi Flick, the team kept pushing forward in search of more goals. Dani Olmo, who hit the woodwork in the first half got in on the action in the 82nd minute, angling his shot in a very tight space past the defeated keeper.

The gulf between these two sides was on full display. So much so that Ferran Torres also joined the list of goalscorers, anticipating the defender and connecting on a cross from Raphinha.

It's been a long time since Barcelona have put in a performance similar to this one. Valladolid is a recently promoted side but Barcelona struggled against promoted sides last season.

That wasn't the case this time around and Flick has to receive a significant amount of credit for that.

At Barcelona, it's not enough to win but how you do it that matters. On this occasion, Barcelona won, played well and have reassured the supporters considering how last season went and the poor transfer window.

While it is only four games into the season, Flick has come in and adapted well so far to some of the handicaps. Players who were under the microscope have played well and the La Masia players who have been given an opportunity have taken advantage of them.

In some ways, the international break is coming at the worst time for Barcelona. Regardless, they go into the break with 12 points and a sense that this team might have what it takes to, at the very least, compete for the league title.