Barcelona 5-2 Valencia: 4 talking points | LaLiga 2019/2020
After an indifferent start to their LaLiga title defence, Barcelona returned to winning ways after the international break with a 5-2 victory over Valencia at Camp Nou.
The game against Los Che took on extra importance for Barcelona after Real Madrid had won their own fixture earlier in the day, while Atletico Madrid's 2-0 defeat to Real Sociedad meant that the Catalans had an opportunity to close the gap on the early pacesetters.
Club captain Lionel Messi was still ruled out due to injury, but Valverde had the services of Luis Suarez although the Uruguayan was only fit to start off the bench.
The Blaugrana got into a 2-0 lead as early as the seventh minute, but a well taken strike by Kevin Gameiro in the 28th minute halved the deficit.
However, three goals in the second half from Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez confirmed the result for the home side even though Maxi Gomez scored a very late consolation for Valencia.
The win sees Barcelona climb to 4th on the standings pending the conclusion of other matches, and here we shall be highlighting four talking points from the match.
#1 Ansu Fati continues with his upward trajectory
On matchday 2, Ansu Fati made history when he became the second youngest player to represent Barcelona in LaLiga history against Real Betis, and a just a week later, he made further history as the second youngest player to score a goal in LaLiga.
The 16-year-old is one of the highest rated players in La Masia, and big things are expected of him at Barcelona.
After starring off the bench in each of his first two Barcelona appearances, Fati was handed a start against Valencia, and it took just four minutes for him to create further history.
The prodigiously talented Fati received a pass from Frenkie de Jong on the edge of the box, and he unleashed an unstoppable shot into the corner to become the youngest goalscorer in Camp Nou history.
Three minutes later, he showed great composure to return the favour to Frenkie de Jong, while he was a constant menace to the Valencia backline, with his close control, dribbling and eagerness to shoot from distance keeping the Valencia defence on the backfoot.
Ansu Fati was substituted for Luis Suarez after 60 minutes to a rapturous standing ovation from the Nou Camp fans, and with the form he has shown, he is undoubtedly a star of the future.