September 8: After Barcelona's 5-0 Win Over Valencia, Three Undeniable Facts Emerged — The Biggest Contributor Was Not Yamal, But Him

At 22:15 Beijing time on September 6, in the fourth round of the 2026-27 La Liga season, Valencia hosted defending champions Barcelona at Mestalla Stadium. Barcelona defeated their opponents 5-0, starting the season with four consecutive wins and scoring 17 goals, continuing to set La Liga records. Details are as follows:

Before the match, Valencia were in a difficult situation. They had drawn once and lost twice in their first three matches, scoring only one goal and conceding four. They had failed to score at home, earned only one point from two home games, and their defense had repeatedly conceded own goals. Barcelona had won all three of their opening matches, scoring 12 goals and conceding two, with the strongest attack in La Liga. The two teams had met 232 times historically, with Barcelona winning 115, drawing 60, and losing 57. In the first meeting last season, Barcelona won 6-0, while Valencia won 3-1 in the final round.

Barcelona controlled the pace throughout the match. In the first half, Fermin Lopez played a through pass and Lamine Yamal scored an early goal. Later, Anthony Gordon crossed from the left, and Fermin scored from a follow-up attack. Eric Garcia was forced off injured, and Fermin's low shot hit the post. Barcelona led 2-0 at halftime. After the break, Raphinha scored from a follow-up effort in the 49th minute, scoring in four consecutive rounds. In the 62nd minute, Barcelona made three substitutions, with Cubarsi, Gordon, and Rodri coming off and Christensen, Adeyemi, and Bernal entering. Pedri scored with a low shot in the 79th minute, and Yamal sealed the win with a shot at the far post in the 85th minute. 5-0.

First, Fermin matched Fabregas. A Spanish player scoring four goals in the first four La Liga matches of a season had last happened with Cesc Fabregas in the 2011-12 season. Fermin also became the first player this season to record both a goal and an assist within the opening 25 minutes of a match. The young midfielder is fulfilling his potential.

Second, Gordon followed the path of Barcelona legends. Anthony Gordon provided four assists in his first four La Liga matches. In the 21st century, only Fabregas and Suarez had previously achieved this, and both wore Barcelona shirts. This shows that Barcelona's possession-based system naturally benefits technical players, and Gordon's seamless adaptation was not accidental.

Third, Raphinha caught up with Messi. Raphinha scored six goals in the first four rounds of the season, becoming the second Barcelona player in the 21st century to achieve this. The previous player was Messi, who did it twice. Currently, Raphinha leads the top-five European leagues' scoring charts with six goals, followed by Roma's Malen and Rayo Vallecano's Camelo, both with five goals.

Many fans applauded Yamal for scoring twice or Fermin for contributing two assists and one goal. However, from an objective perspective, the biggest contributor was Raphinha. He has scored in four consecutive rounds and leads the top-five European leagues with six goals, approaching Messi's record pace. The debate is whether Raphinha can maintain this form and whether Barcelona's system can continue to function without him.

What do the fans think about this?