Barcelona began their bid for a fourth successive
Primera Division title with a spellbinding 5-0 win against
Villarreal at the Nou Camp.
Having been forced to wait to start their title defence,
and after Real Madrid's 6-0 win at Real Zaragoza on
Sunday, Pep Guardiola's side picked up where they left
off last season to leave Juan Carlos Garrido's visitors
dazed and confused.
Emerging midfielder Thiago started the scoring in the
25th minute before Cesc Fabregas, signed from Arsenal
this summer, made it 2-0 on his league debut. Fellow
newcomer Alexis Sanchez also marked his debut with a
goal before Lionel Messi grabbed two for himself.
Fabregas lined up in midfield, with Chilean Sanchez
wide on the right. Villarreal, fourth-place finishers
last season, fielded first-choice duo Giuseppe Rossi
and Nilmar up front.
Barcelona's first chance fell to Sanchez in the sixth
minute but his shot was held well by Diego Lopez.
In the 17th minute the hosts forged another opportunity
when Pedro slipped in Messi on the left and Lopez had
to be alert to make the near-post save, before Sergio
Busquets' header from the resulting corner bounced off
the top of the bar.
The Catalan side's season was up and running when Thiago
claimed the first goal of the season. The midfielder
was allowed to carry the ball forward unopposed before
simply firing the ball past Lopez with his left foot.
Rossi immediately burst into life and was not far off
with a powerful shot at the other end.
The 38th minute saw Rossi go close, smashing a shot
which Valdes saved only for the ball to bounce up on
the line before the goalkeeper swiped it away. However,
a raised flag confirmed Rossi had been ruled offside
anyway.
The second goal came on the stroke of half-time and
it was former youth team colleagues Messi and Fabregas
at the heart of it. Argentinian Messi dropped deep to
play an inch-perfect ball through to meet Fabregas'
run and the homecoming Catalan nudged it around Lopez
before tapping in.
Early in the second half Sanchez joined Fabregas as
a goalscorer on his debut and this time Thiago was the
provider, playing a delightful ball through the defence
for Sanchez to race on to and place past Lopez with
the measured finish.
Fabregas had another chance of his own seconds later
as Barcelona continued to pile forward.
It was 4-0 in the 51st minute with a similarly incisive
passing move, Iniesta playing a give-and-go before slotting
through for Messi to round Lopez and score.
Fabregas was given an ovation when he was replaced
by Jonathan Dos Santos in the 70th minute before Messi
got his second of the night when he crashed home after
a lovely one-two with Thiago.
Home goalkeeper Victor Valdes was alert when suddenly
called on to deny Javier Camunas five minutes from time
as Villarreal sought in vain for a positive to take
from the match.
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