La Liga: Barcelona Thrash Alaves 6-1 as Hansi Flick Reaches 100 Wins
Barcelona bounced back from their Clasico defeat with a 6-1 home win over Alaves, giving coach Hansi Flick his 100th victory in charge of the club.
Strong Response After Clasico Loss
Barcelona showed no signs of a hangover after losing to Real Madrid last weekend. The defending champions crushed Alaves 6-1 at home in Round 11 of La Liga.
Lamine Yamal scored twice and set up another goal. Fermin Lopez scored one and assisted two, while Raphinha also scored twice.
Four Goals Before Half-Time
Barcelona took the lead after just eight minutes. Fermin beat the offside trap, ran into the box and passed across to Raphinha, who tapped into an empty net.
In the 23rd minute, Fermin ran onto a through ball from Yamal and scored from a tight angle. He then set up Raphinha again in the 41st minute for his second goal. Just before half-time, Yamal hit a low shot from outside the box to make it 4-0.
Yamal added another goal in the 64th minute, and Anthony Gordon made it 6-0 in the 81st minute. Alaves scored a late consolation goal through Mariano in the 84th minute.
100 Wins for Flick
The win was Flick’s 100th as Barcelona coach. He reached the mark in 131 games in all competitions since taking over in May 2024. Only Luis Enrique, who needed 126 games, reached 100 wins faster in the club’s history.
Flick said he had only ever thought about reaching 100 games at Barcelona, so he was very happy to reach 100 wins instead. He added that his favourite win was his first Clasico, when Barcelona beat Real Madrid 4-0 away.
Records for Raphinha and Yamal
Raphinha has now scored in seven home games in a row in all competitions, matching a club record held by Lionel Messi. Yamal has been involved in 23 goals this season, with 12 goals and 11 assists. That is the most of any player in Europe’s top five leagues.
Barcelona have also scored 46 goals and conceded only 12 in their first 11 league games. Their goal difference of +34 is the best ever at this stage of a La Liga season.
Atletico Keep Up the Chase
Barcelona have won 10 of their 11 league games and lead the table with 30 points. However, Atletico Madrid are only two points behind on 28 points.
Atletico won 2-0 away at Levante for their seventh league win in a row. Alex Grimaldo scored from a tight angle in the 36th minute after a Levante mistake. In the 62nd minute, Giuliano Simeone made it 2-0 after a pass from Alex Baena.
In other games, Rayo Vallecano beat Celta Vigo 3-0, and Real Betis beat Malaga 2-1.