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BARCELONA (Reuters) – Lionel Messi again scored goals for Barcelona on Sunday, leading to a landslide 4-0 home win over Villarreal in a near-perfect first La Liga game for the Catalans with the new manager. Ronald Koeman.
Teenage forward Ansu Fati was in inspiring form for Barca, teaming up with Jordi Alba to get his side foot into the net for the first time in the 15th minute and then hit again four minutes later with another icy finish.
Fati, the 17-year-old in his second season with Barça’s first team after an impressive rise last year from the club’s youth setup, won the penalty that captain Messi sent to score the third at 35.
Villarreal defender Pau Torres scored an own goal at the end of the first half to accumulate more pain on Unai Emery’s side and Barça continued to dominate the game in the second half without managing to add a great advantage.
Koeman, who succeeded Quique Setien in August after a crushing 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, could hardly have hoped for a better start after the chaotic closed season overshadowed by Messi’s attempt to leave. the club.
The Argentine had unleashed his latest attack on the club’s hierarchy only on Friday, criticizing the way his former attacking partner Luis Suárez had been expelled from the club.
Suárez enjoyed a magnificent debut at Atlético de Madrid early Sunday, but here Barça didn’t seem to miss the Uruguayan, as he played with more pace and freedom than in many parts of last season, launching quick counterattacks and building from behind. .
“It was a good game for us especially in the first half, we were much better than them, we created many chances and scored four goals,” said Barça midfielder Sergio Busquets.
“We lowered the intensity a bit in the second half and they made things more difficult for us but in general we left our first game with good feelings. We are close to the team we want to be in.”
Former Barça defender Koeman delivered the La Liga debut to 17-year-old Pedri, Portuguese winger Francisco Trincao and Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic in the second half.
Ousmane Dembele also entered his first competitive appearance with Barca since last November after returning from hamstring surgery.
(Reported by Richard Martin; edited by Ian Chadband)
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