Barcelona7 - 1Valencia

It was clear by that point that Los Ches were in for a tough night, and the feeling was confirmed when Raphinha - who has been a standout for Hansi Flick's resurgent Barca this season - followed up with a third with less than a quarter of an hour played.

Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of Flick's tenure at Barcelona has been his use of young players, and La Masia's produce once again combined to deliver the goods when centre-back Pau Cubarsi assisted midfielder Fermin Lopez for the hosts' fourth.

The visitors were given a glimmer of hope when Wojciech Szczesny was shown a yellow card for what they deemed a sure penalty, but a VAR review decided against awarding a spotkick, and Lopez made it five with his second of the game just before the interval.

Valencia's Hugo Duro scored a consolation goal early in the second half, but it did little to dampen the blow of such a humiliating scoreline, and the visitors even failed to 'win the second half' when substitute Robert Lewandowski added a sixth with 25 minutes to play, and centre-back Cesar Tarrega scored an own goal late on.

SPORTS MOLE'S VERDICT

Barcelona continue to blow teams away with the intensity and relentlessness of their attack under Flick, and Valencia were just the latest in a long list of victims this season.

The Catalan giants' reliance on youth may come with an inherent lack of experience, and they could miss out on the La Liga title this season given they are in third place behind Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, but their future - on the pitch at least - seems exceptionally bright.

Carlos Corberan's struggling Valencia came into Sunday's clash hoping to extend their four-game unbeaten streak, but their dreams came tumbling down when the hosts raced into a five-goal lead before half time.

Though the relegation candidates should not be too disheartened with the result, they will be disappointed with the embarrassing nature of such an extreme scoreline, and the manager must surely be under intense scrutiny at the moment with his side in the relegation zone, four points behind 17th-placed Deportivo Alaves.

BARCELONA VS. VALENCIA HIGHLIGHTS

3rd min: Barcelona 1-0 Valencia (Frenkie de Jong)

Assisted by Lamine Yamal, Frenkie de Jong fires Barcelona into an early lead with a fine finish into the bottom left corner!

8th min: Barcelona 2-0 Valencia (Ferran Torres)

Ferran Torres receives the ball from Alejandro Balde before finding the bottom right corner to double the lead!

14th min: Barcelona 3-0 Valencia (Raphinha)

Barcelona's star man, Raphinha, is played in by Fermin Lopez and Giorgio Mamardashvili is unable to stop his effort from the right-hand side of the box.

24th min: Barcelona 4-0 Valencia (Fermin Lopez)

Two of Barcelona's academy graduates combine to give the hosts a four-goal lead with just over one quarter of the match played!

Centre-back Pau Cubarsi plays a through ball to midfielder Fermin Lopez, who strikes the ball high into the back of the net.

45+4 min: Barcelona 5-0 Valencia (Fermin Lopez)

The 21-year-old makes it five with a strike into the bottom right corner, and his brace has made the scoreline embarrassing reading for the visitors.

59th min: Barcelona 5-1 Valencia (Hugo Duro)

The Valencia striker pulls one back with a fine finish into the top left corner, but it is surely just a consolation at this point.

59th min: Barcelona 6-1 Valencia (Robert Lewandowski)

The veteran striker is off the bench to score his side's sixth of the game with a trademark shot across the goalkeeper.

59th min: Barcelona 7-1 Valencia (Cesar Tarrega OG)

Almost as if to add insult to injury, Valencia centre-back Cesar Tarrega has sent the ball beyond Mamardashvili and into the back of his own net.

MAN OF THE MATCH - FERMIN LOPEZ

Hansi Flick's Barcelona have been underpinned by La Masia talent, and the the same can be said of their performance today.

Lopez's two goals and one assist before half time helped to make the second period a formality, and his second assist for Lewandowski topped off a fine display that took Barca three points closer to their rivals in the Spanish capital.

BARCELONA VS. VALENCIA MATCH STATS

Possession: Barcelona 71.9%-28.1% Valencia

Shots: Barcelona 22-7 Valencia

Shots on target: Barcelona 11-2 Valencia

Corners: Barcelona 14-4 Valencia

Fouls: Barcelona 10-12 Valencia

BEST STATS

WHAT NEXT?

Barcelona will try to make it eight games unbeaten across all competitions when they face Atalanta in their final Champions League group stage game, while Valencia will host Celta Vigo in La Liga on February 2, hoping to pick up some desperately needed points.

Written by

Anthony Nolan