FC Barcelona – Valencia. Lewandowski is a hero, the first hat-trick in Spain

Valencia, still fighting for European cups, surprised the hosts before the first whistle. The average age of its starting eleven was 22 years and 198 days. This is the youngest squad fielded by any team in the Spanish Premier League since the 2005/2006 season.

Error followed error. Bad minutes for Barcelona

It immediately showed Barcelona that it would not give away points for free. The guests were disciplined in defense and were able to launch two counterattacks quite quickly, at least one of which should have resulted in a goal. They were closer to scoring, but the hosts were the first to rejoice when, in the 22nd minute, Raphinha delivered a brilliant cross and Fermin Lopez successfully headed the ball.

Raphinha and Fermin Lopez embrace after the first goal

It seemed that the Catalans had the most difficult part of the plan done, but in the following minutes they did a lot to ensure that their effort was quickly wasted.

First, goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a mistake during the clearance, the ball went to Hugo Duro, who just had to hit the empty goal, and that’s exactly what he did. Seven minutes before the end of the first half, Ronald Araujo thoughtlessly fouled his opponent in the penalty area and Valencia took the lead thanks to the eleven used.

The guests’ situation was favorable, but before the break it became very complicated. Their goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was sent off with a red card because he copied Ter Stegen’s mistake and then saved himself by touching the ball with his hand outside the penalty area.

Robert Lewandowski with a hat-trick after the break

The second half, as expected, started with Barcelona’s pressure. The ball quickly fell into the net after a header by Lewandowski, who had previously been invisible. There were doubts because the rivals demanded that another home player be whistled for an offside position. They did nothing and the scoreboard showed a draw again.

From that moment on, the Pole was much more active. First, he wasted a great opportunity, but in this situation he was offside anyway. In the next action, he worked out a position to shoot from outside the penalty area, but ultimately hit it straight at the goalkeeper.

The Polish sniper’s goal was a sight to behold and Barcelona fans finally got it. He headed it again, moving with great determination to the stray ball after a little confusion in the penalty area following a corner kick.

It didn’t end there. There was already added time when “Lewy” scored for the third time. This time the goal was of extraordinary beauty. The Pole hit the ball perfectly directly from the free kick, completing his first league hat-trick for Barcelona (he also scored three times in the Champions League against Viktoria Plzeň in his first season in Spain) and scoring his sixteenth goal in the current competition.

Barcelona returned to the runner-up position

For Barcelona, ​​it was the first meeting since coach Xavi Hernandez quite unexpectedly announced that, despite his previous declarations, he would remain the coach of the Pride of Catalonia after this season. And extremely important. Thanks to it, the team returned to the runner-up position, which it lost to Girona at the weekend.

There are still five rounds left to play. Next, on Saturday, Barcelona will play away against Girona. Finishing the season in second place will give the Catalans the right to play for the Spanish Super Cup, in which there is a significant bonus up for grabs.

FC Barcelona – Valencia 4:2

Goals: Lopez (22nd), Lewandowski (49th), (82nd), (93rd) – Duro (27th), Pepelu (38th)