Camp Nou got a scare on Monday night. Then it got a party.
Rayo Vallecano had the nerve to go up 1-0 inside twelve minutes, and for a moment it looked like Barcelona might actually have a fight on their hands. They didn’t. By the final whistle it was 5-2, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha had two goals apiece, and Hansi Flick’s side were still unbeaten through their opening matches of the season.
The Early Wobble
Give Rayo credit — they came to play. Alvaro Garcia drove down the left in the 12th minute and squared it for Sergio Camello, who muscled past Andreas Christensen and beat Joan Garcia low. Bold start from the visitors. Didn’t last.
Two Goals in Five Minutes Changes Everything
This is where Barcelona’s front two decided enough was enough.
Raphinha — who’s been playing more or less as a makeshift striker all season while the club’s chase for Julian Alvarez went nowhere — did what he’s been doing all year. A quick shimmy left Pathe Ciss grasping at nothing, and he slotted it home like it was routine. Because at this point, for him, it kind of is.
Barely a few minutes later, Yamal struck. Rayo fumbled the ball away in a dangerous spot, the teenager pounced, created half a yard of space out of nothing, and curled it into the far top corner. Casual detail buried in there: it was his 50th goal for the club. He’s 18.
Just after the break, Barcelona made it 3-1 almost by accident — Florian Lejeune turned an Anthony Gordon cross into his own net trying to clear it.
Camello Wasn’t Finished
Say this for Rayo: they kept coming. Camello headed in his second of the night in the 59th minute off a corner, and suddenly it was 3-2 and Barcelona’s night got a little tense.
They answered anyway. Jules Kounde lofted one forward, Gordon backheeled it into Raphinha’s path — no, really, a backheel — and the Brazilian finished coolly for his fifth of the season. That’s the most in La Liga right now. Nobody else is close.
Yamal added the exclamation point in stoppage time. Adeyemi squared it to him from the edge of the box and he curled a finish inside the far post — his second of the night, Barcelona’s fifth of the game, and about as complete a response to an early scare as you could ask for.
What Else Happened That Night
Up in the stands, Gabriel Jesus was watching his future teammates close out the win, with his move from Arsenal expected to go through before Tuesday’s deadline. Flick had already been talking him up beforehand, calling him “a top striker” — which sets up an interesting question about who actually starts up front once Jesus is available, given how well Raphinha’s been playing there himself.
There was also a first taste of first-team football for young Egyptian forward Hamza Abdelkarim, rewarded after a strong pre-season.
Where This Leaves Barcelona
Three games in, three wins, and their two most dangerous attackers are both scoring in bunches. Yamal reaching 50 club goals as a teenager is the kind of stat that should worry the rest of La Liga on its own. Add in Raphinha leading the league in goals while playing out of position, and it’s hard not to like Barcelona’s chances of defending their title if this keeps up.