Barcelona 6-1 Alavés: Raphinha and Lamine Yamal both score twice

Barcelona needed barely an hour to turn LaLiga matchday 11 into a rout, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal both scoring twice as the hosts put six goals past Alavés at the Camp Nou on Saturday. Fermín López was involved in four of the six, scoring one and setting up two others, and by the time Alavés got on the scoresheet in the 84th minute the result had been decided for well over half an hour.

Raphinha opened the scoring in the 8th minute, finishing off a pass from Fermín López, who turned provider into scorer himself on 23 minutes with a goal of his own created by Yamal. Raphinha completed his brace four minutes before half-time, Fermín López supplying the assist again, and Yamal got his first in first-half stoppage time from a João Cancelo pass — Barcelona four goals up before the interval was even over.

The second half brought two more. Yamal's second arrived on 64 minutes, teed up by substitute Gabriel Jesus, and another substitute, Anthony Gordon, made it 6-0 on 81 minutes from a Rodri pass. Alavés's consolation came three minutes later through substitute Mariano Díaz, with no assist credited — a goal that did nothing to the shape of the afternoon.

Match facts

• 8' — Raphinha (Barcelona), assist Fermín López
• 23' — Fermín López (Barcelona), assist Lamine Yamal
• 41' — Raphinha (Barcelona), assist Fermín López
• 45+1' — Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), assist João Cancelo
• 64' — Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), assist Gabriel Jesus
• 81' — Anthony Gordon (Barcelona), assist Rodri
• 84' — Mariano Díaz (Alavés)

Line-ups

Barcelona lined up in a 4-3-3: Joan García in goal, Pau Cubarsí, João Cancelo and Brian Fariñas across the back alongside Frenkie de Jong, with Rodri, Pedri and Fermín López through midfield feeding Raphinha, Karim Adeyemi and Lamine Yamal in attack. Gerard Martín, Anthony Gordon, Marc Bernal, Alejandro Balde and Gabriel Jesus all came on during the second half. Alavés set up in a 4-5-1 behind Antonio Sivera, with Mariano Díaz, Hugo Novoa, Pablo Ibáñez, Aitor Mañas and Toni Martínez introduced from the bench as the visitors chased the game.

Answering two straight defeats

This was Barcelona's response to the first back-to-back defeats of their season: a 2-4 loss at PSG in the Champions League on 20 October, followed by a 1-2 home defeat to Real Madrid in the first Clásico of the campaign five days later. Before that pair of losses, Barcelona had won nine LaLiga games in a row. Saturday's six-goal display was their biggest scoreline of the season and the clearest possible way to stop the slide.

Alavés still without a win in five

Alavés arrived at the Camp Nou having lost three and drawn two of their previous five across all competitions — defeats to Atlético Madrid and Celta Vigo either side of a draw at Málaga — without a win since the end of August. Saturday's six conceded goals, against only three scored across that run of five games coming in, extended a difficult stretch rather than interrupting one.

Where this leaves the table

Barcelona went into the round top of LaLiga on 27 points from ten games, two points clear of Atlético Madrid in second. Alavés had arrived 8th on 12 points, comfortably clear of the relegation zone but with the kind of form — one win in their last seven league matches — that keeps the bottom half within sight. Neither side's result here moves the broad picture much on its own, but Barcelona's attacking afternoon was the sort that keeps the pressure on the two sides directly behind them, and Alavés leave the Camp Nou still searching for the win that would halt their slide.