FC Barcelona can’t stop scoring. After the 4-0 victory against Athletic Club at Camp Nou, they have scored four goals consecutively in the last four matches. Barcelona finished the month of February in style and will remain in the La Liga Top 4 for another week. The four goals helped the team to pick up another three points to look strong in the race for a Champions League spot.
The win sees Xavi Hernandez’s team climb to fourth place in the standings with 45 points, 15 behind leaders Real Madrid and ahead of fifth-placed Atletico Madrid on goal difference.
Under Xavi, the Catalan club were in top form in the last three matches. But in the recent games, Athletic Club’s performance against Barcelona were excellent, and they used to create headaches for the Blaugrana. So, the fans were not hoping for an easy win. But without the Williams Brothers – Inaki Williams and Nico Williams, Athletic Club could not create quick attacking counters.
Frenkie de Jong was given a rest, and Gavi took his place in midfield. Upfront, the trio of Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Adama Traore started once again.
Athletic boss Marcelino Garcia’s main focus was on this week’s Copa Del Rey semifinal, and the first XI was weak compared to their usual XI. Barcelona made use of this golden opportunity as their defenders did not have many challenging situations to handle.
Barca opened the scoresheet in the 37th minute when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored for the third game in a row. They ended the first half just with one goal.
In the second half, Barcelona came out in high spirits as they were ready to finish the game as soon as possible. The second goal came after Xavi made the two substitutions of Dembele and Frenkie De Jong. Both of them made an immediate impact after Dembele collected the ball from De Jong to score a booming goal from a tight angle.
Memphis Depay returned to action when he came on in the 82nd minute for Adama Traore. Xavi also brought on Luuk de Jong and Nico for the last ten minutes.
Another two brilliant substitutions from the Spanish boss helped the team to score two more goals. Luuk de Jong scored his fifth goal of this season after a cross from Dembele from the right-wing.
Memphis Depay scored after returning from the injury. Dembele crossed the ball to the Dutch forward in the added minutes, and he quickly made it four for Barca.
Xavi was optimistic about Barca’s performance this season. He wants to take game by game to reduce the pressure on the team. “I’ve said that we’re not ruling anything out. Madrid are strong, as are Sevilla. We have to climb the table. We’re working with all the humility in the world, taking things game by game. Now we prepare for Elche next week,” Xavi said. “Nothing else. We have to remain humble and keep working hard.”
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