Soccer-Barcelona bounce back with 6-1 win over Alaves at Camp Nou

Barcelona enjoyedan emphatic 6-1 home win over ​Alaves on Saturday,with Raphinha, Fermin Lopez, Lamine ​Yamal and Anthony Gordon all on ‌the scoresheet,as ​the hosts responded after losses to Real Madrid and Paris St Germain. Barca top LaLiga on 30 points, two ahead of Atletico Madrid, who beat ‌Levante 2-0 earlier on Saturday, with Real Madrid six points off the pace before visiting Racing Santander on Sunday.

The opening exchanges at Camp Nou were punctuated by frustrated shouts from home manager Hansi Flick in response to ‌Barcelona's defending, but Alaves found it impossible to live with their fluid attacking play. After Pedri's pass sliced ‌through the Alaves midfield, Fermin crossed for Raphinha to open the scoring in the eighth minute.

A brief Alaves reaction put the hosts under pressure but once Fermin netted from a tight angle in the 23rd minute, the game was one-way traffic in Barcelona's ⁠favour. Tenacious and ​incisive throughout, Fermin assisted ⁠Raphinha again in the 41st minute after winning possession back.

Lamine rifled a bouncing ball low into the corner to complete a slick ⁠passing move, adding Barcelona's fourth in first-half stoppage time. Flick's side continued to look sharp and Karim Adeyemi spurned a ​chance to round off more excellent work from Fermin early in the second half. Lamine was then ⁠set up by substitute Gabriel Jesus for his second in the 64th minute.

Rodri was visibly delighted with the weight of his pass ⁠behind ​the Alaves defence, which Anthony Gordon converted for Barcelona's fifth with nine minutes remaining. The Spain midfielder was equally furious with himself after his giveaway allowed Mariano Diaz to add a consolation goal for Alaves ⁠three minutes later.

Barca showed the verve they were missing in the 2-1 Clasico defeat by visitors Real, after ⁠which Flick said his ⁠team lacked freshness, and a 4-2 loss at PSG in the Champions League. Aston Villa visit the Catalan side on Tuesday in the Champions League in what is ‌likely to ‌be a sterner test.