Valencia had two goals disallowed – one for offside and the other for the ball going out in the build-up – in the first half.
Soler pulled one back with a diving header, but Pedri’s brilliant swerving strike wrapped it up for the visitors.
Starting Lineup:
VALENCIA STARTING XI (4-3-3): Giorgi Mamardashvili;
Dimitri Foulquier, Mouctar Diakhaby, Omar Alderete, Jose Gaya;
Ilaix Moriba, Hugo Guillamon, Carlos Soler;
Hugo Duro, Goncalo Guedes, Bryan Gil.
BARCELONA STARTING XI (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen;
Sergino Dest, Ronald Araujo, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba;
Gavi, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong;
Ousmane Dembele, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ferran Torres.
Goals:
AUBAMEYANG SCORES! It’s a lovely long ball over the top from Alba, and Aubameyang times his run perfectly in behind Alderete to stay onside. He takes it into the box before firing his shot over Mamardashvili and into the top corner of the net. 1-0 Barca.
DE JONG SCORES! It’s a brilliantly worked goal by Barcelona! Dest can’t find a way through down the right, so it’s worked out to Alba on the opposite flank. He lifts another lovely cross into the box, and Dembele squares it to De Jong, who slides in ahead of Alderete to slot it past the keeper. 2-0 Barca.
AUBAMEYANG SCORES AGAIN! It’s a much simpler finish than his first goal, but he was in the right place to slot this one home. Dembele plays a one-two with Dest before sliding it through to Gavi, and he curls it into the six-yard box. Aubameyang is entirely unmarked, and he’s left with a simple tap-in. 3-0 Barca.
SOLER PULLS ONE BACK! He had one disallowed in the first half, but this one will count! It’s a brilliant cross from Gil on the left, and Soler’s run through the middle isn’t picked up. So he throws himself forward and gets a lot of power behind the header to put it past Ter Stegen. 3-1.
WHAT A GOAL! Torres tried to spin out of a crowd of players on the edge of the box, but the ball bounced off Diakhaby and out to Pedri. He hits it the first time, getting a lot of power on his swerving shot as it rises over Mamardashvili and into the top of the net. 4-1 Barca.
So, what’s next for Valencia and Barcelona?
That win takes Barcelona back above Atletico Madrid and into fourth place in LaLiga.
They’re now unbeaten in five going into their second-leg Europa League tie against Napoli on Thursday.
Valencia’s search for a league win in 2022 goes on. They stay in 12th and travel to Real Mallorca next time out.
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