With a brace, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made his debut as a scorer with FC Barcelona to guide them to a 4-1 victory at Valencia, this Sunday in matchday 25 of the Spanish LaLiga, where Sevilla could only draw 1-1 with Espanyol and sees the leader Real Madrid escape.
The Andalusian team started the day four points behind Real Madrid and now they are displaced to six, since the team from the capital beat Alavés 3-0 on Saturday, which allows them to come out stronger this weekend.
For Barça, the race for the title is far away and they seem focused on securing one of the top four positions in the Spanish championship, which would allow them to play in the next edition of the lucrative Champions League.
On Saturday, Barça had provisionally dropped to sixth place but this Sunday’s victory returns it to fourth place, with 42 points, the same as Atlético de Madrid (fifth), who on Saturday beat Osasuna 3-0 away. Villarreal (sixth), three points behind both, also thrashed away from home on Saturday, in their case 4-1 in Granada.
The Gabonese Aubameyang, who arrived at Barça at the close of the January market from Arsenal, opened the scoring at Mestalla, in the 23rd minute, perfectly defining a long pass from Jordi Alba.
Barça put distances on the scoreboard in minute 32, when Alba hung another ball that Ousmane Dembelé touched first, enabling Frenkie De Jong to push the Valencian net.
Aubameyang scored his second goal in the 38th minute after a pass from Gavi, after a VAR review, which validated the action.
That provisional 3-0 at halftime left Barcelona facing a placid second half. In the first, Valencia had seen how two goals were annulled, one by José Luis Gayá and another by Carlos Soler.
It was precisely Soler who was in charge of shortening the differences for Valencia, with a header in minute 52, before Pedri, from thirty meters, put the final 4-1 for the azulgranas in minute 63.
This victory in Valencia allows FC Barcelona to break a streak of two draws in a row, the one signed in the League last weekend in the derby against Espanyol (2-2) and the one on Thursday against Napoli (1-1) in the first leg of the Europa League round of 32.
On Thursday of the new week, Barça visits Napoli at the Diego Maradona stadium, in search of survival in the second European tournament. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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