Actualizado
A
superb performance from
Ansu Fati
powered
Barcelona
to a 4-0 victory in their 2020-21 LaLiga Santander season opener against
Villarreal
on Sunday night at the Camp Nou.
The 17-year-old bagged a brace and won a penalty to guide the Catalonians to a full three points in
Ronald Koeman
's official debut as Barcelona coach. Playing in his first match in the post-Luis Suarez era,
Lionel Messi
converted the penalty set up by
Fati
before a
Villarreal
own goal rounded out a complete first half performance from Barcelona.
Koeman
's first official starting XI saw
Philippe Coutinho and Fati
in attack, along with
Messi and Antoine Griezmann
, while
Frenkie De Jong and Sergio Busquets
were tabbed as the holding midfielders.
Immediately
Barcelona
went to work on the right side of the Villarreal defence, looking to utilise the speed and incisiveness of
Jordi Alba and Fati
and those two would connect to hand the hosts a 1-0 lead.
Clement Lenglet
played a fantastic long ball up to the charging
Alba
, who then cut back for
Fati
and the youngster hit it on the screws, directing his right-footer into the net.
Soon enough it was 2-0 and again with Fati landing the fatal blow.
Barcelona
played out of the back with aplomb, allowing Coutinho to marshal a break that ended with a simple pass over to Fati and another strong finish from the Spain international.
Fati
was the star of the show and later in the half he set the table for
Barcelona
's third by receiving a pass and using his movement to draw a foul from Mario Gaspar in the
Villarreal
area, resulting in a penalty.
Messi
stepped up and stroked home the spot kick under Villarreal goalkeeper
Sergio Asenjo
to give La Pulga his first goal of the season and his first smile in ages.
Barcelona
's football was flowing nicely and Coutinho nearly made it four in the final stages of the first half, only to be denied on a fine save by Asenjo.
The Villarreal goalkeeper was left helpless, though, moments before the break when a deep
Messi
cross intended for
Busquets
was unintentionally redirected into the
Villarreal
net by
Pau Torres
to gift Barcelona a 4-0 lead.
Villarreal
managed to tighten things up in the back in the second half to keep Barcelona at bay, but going forward there was little that the Yellow Submarine were doing to trouble
Neto
in the Blaugrana goal.
Koeman
's first two changes saw 17-year-old
Pedri
make his Barcelona debut, coming on for Coutinho, while
Ousmane Dembele
replaced Fati to freshen things up.
That was then followed by
Trincao and Miralem Pjanic
making their Barcelona debuts when they replaced Griezmann and Busquets, respectively, with a little less than a quarter-hour to go.
Despite their best efforts, a fifth goal was not in the cards for
Barcelona
, including a probing
Messi
strike that required a save from Asenjo. In the end though, it was a welcomed performance for a team trying to turn the page and forget about its turbulent summer.
Match Sheet
4.- Barcelona:
Neto, Sergi Roberto, Pique, Lenglet, Alba, De Jong, Busquets, Griezmann (Trincao, min. 78), Ansu Fati (Dembele, min. 70), Coutinho (Pedri, min. 70), Messi.
0.- Villarreal:
Asenjo, Mario, Albiol (Funes Mori, min. 84), Pau, Estupinan, Parejo, Coquelin (Iborra, min. 46), Chukwueze (Kubo, min. 74), Moi, Gerard Moreno (Bacca, min. 84), Alcacer (Trigueros, min. 46)
Goals:
1-0, min. 15: Fati; 2-0, min. 19: Fati; 3-0, min. 35: Messi (p); 4-0, min. 45: Pau (og)
Referee:
Cuadra Fernandez (Balear).
Yellow cards:
Gerard Moreno (Min. 83) for Villarreal.
Red cards:
None
Stadium:
Camp Nou
Attendance:
0