Barcelona continued their flawless start in La Liga as forwards Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha each scored a brace to lead them to a 5-1 victory over hosts Villarreal in a thrilling encounter on Sunday.
Lewandowski netted twice within the first 35 minutes, but Villarreal quickly responded through Ayoze Perez. Pablo Torre extended Barcelona's lead to 3-1 after the break, and Raphinha sealed the win with two late goals in the second half.
Hansi Flick's team extended their winning streak in the league to six games, rebounding from their 2-1 loss against Monaco in the Champions League on Thursday. Barcelona remain atop the standings with 18 points, maintaining a four-point lead over defending champions Real Madrid in second place. Villarreal, suffering their first LaLiga loss of the season, are now fifth with 11 points.
The visitors faced a setback just before halftime when goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was forced off the pitch on a stretcher after a fall. Barcelona were already without new signing Dani Olmo, who is sidelined with a right hamstring injury, and several other key players.
Villarreal proved to be formidable opponents, dangerous on the counter-attack, and had three goals disallowed for minimal offside calls. Yeremy Pino thought he had given the hosts an early lead, but the flag was raised. Lewandowski then opened the scoring with a simple finish and added a second with an overhead kick.
The Polish striker, who nine years ago scored five goals in nine minutes for Bayern Munich, moved to the top of the scorers' standings with six goals in six games. Villarreal's Perez pulled one back, but Ter Stegen denied Nicolas Pepe just before the break. Barcelona's dominance continued as Torre scored from outside the box, and Raphinha netted his fourth and fifth goals of the campaign.
Lewandowski had a chance to score his second LaLiga hat-trick since joining in 2022 but hit the post from the penalty spot. Barcelona have now won their first six games of the season for the first time since 2017-18, and only the eighth time in their history.
