Barcelona returned to winning ways with a relentless 6–1 pummeling of a powerless Alavés at the Camp Nou on Saturday.

After a nightmare week that saw Barcelona suffer their first two defeats of the season, Hansi Flick’s men returned to their old ways with a devastating first half performance that decided the game by the time the halftime whistle blew.

The hosts struck inside the opening 10 minutes when Fermín López squared Raphinha for a tap-in following a brilliant Pedri pass. López went from provider to finisher later, doubling Barça’s lead with an absolute bullet into the far post from a tight angle, before once again assisting the Brazilian to complete his brace. Determined to join the party, Lamine Yamal fired a rocket from just outside the penalty area to make it 4–0 on the verge of halftime.

The lopsided advantage allowed Flick to rest some players in the second half, but Barcelona still dominated and Yamal completed his brace just past the hour-mark. Anthony Gordon came off the bench to add Barça's sixth, but it was quickly erased when Mariano Díaz bagged a consolation goal for the visitors.

The result surely boosts Barcelona’s confidence following a concerning El Clásico defeat and restores a two-point lead over Atlético Madrid at the summit of La Liga before visiting Diego Simeone’s side next weekend.

The One Thing We Can’t Ignore

Not even four injured defenders watching the game from the stands sufficed for Alejandro Balde to make his first start of the campaign. When you look at Barcelona’s starting back four, it’s easy to see that Balde’s days donning the Blaugrana shirt are numbered.

Balde replaced the injured Xavi Espart and played the final hour of last weekend’s El Clásico. Although Madrid’s winner was manufactured down his flank, Balde wan’t necessarily at fault and was otherwise solid in his most extended cameo of the season.

With so many defensive injuries, many expected Balde to get a run of consistent playing time, but Flick had other ideas. Instead of deploying Balde, the German boss started the game with a back four made up of Brain Fariñas, Pau Cubarsí, Frenkie de Jong and João Cancelo. De Jong and Cancelo are slightly more understandable, but Flick opted to give Fariñas—a natural midfielder—his senior debut out of position instead of giving Balde a chance.

It took Cancelo getting booked in the second half for Flick to finally introduce the 23-year-old left back against Alavés.

After playing over 40 games in each of the last two seasons, Balde has played featured in just four of Barcelona’s 14 games to start 2026–27, registering just a little over 100 minutes—Fariñas and Hamza Abdelkarim are the only players registered with the first team that have played less.

The La Masia graduate that took over from Jordi Alba at left back and appeared destined to become an essential piece of the team now finds himself completely erased from Flick’s plans. It’s a simply incredible fall from grace, and barring a drastic turn of events, Balde seems bound to leave the club in January or next summer at the latest.

Barcelona Player Ratings vs. Alavés (4-2-3-1)

GK: Joan García—7.0: His efforts were barely required but he confidently dealt with any danger and completed every single pass attempt. Will be disappointed the clean sheet was denied late.

RB: Brian Fariñas—7.6: Brilliant from the debutant. Fariñas completely shut-down Alavés’ left wing and even was bold going forward. He misplaced just three passes in 90 minutes.

CB: Pau Cubarsí—7.7: Emphatically pocketed Lucas Boyé with a statement defensive showing. A much needed bounce back after a rough week.

CB: Frenkie de Jong—7.1: The Dutchman made his first start of the season playing out of position and did so admirably. At times struggled in physical duels, but he stuck a foot in to block shots and dispossess opponents when needed. Flawless in possession.

LB: João Cancelo—7.6: A relatively quiet evening from Cancelo but he was effective whenever he went forward and teed-up Yamal for his first goal of the game.

CM: Rodri—7.9: After a very shaky El Clásico debut, Rodri dominated the middle of the pitch on Saturday, distributing from deep and always being an option as an outlet. His brilliant assist for Gordon’s goal was erased when he also essentially assisted Díaz’s goal minutes later.

CM: Pedri—6.9: Delivered a sensational line-breaking pass to start the action of Raphinha’s opener and spent the rest of his night looking to add more assists with classy through balls and clever lobs.

RW: Lamine Yamal—9.4: Toyed with opponents from the start and made it look easy. It looked like he barely had to exert himself on his way to another three goal contributions. A statement showing after his Ballon d’Or snub.

AM: Fermín López—9.2: His ability to exploit vacated spaces behind defenders with darting runs continues to be an incredibly effective weapon. Today, his energetic nature helped him collect three goal contributions.

LW: Karim Adeyemi—7.1: Although Adeyemi was not active often, he had a couple of nice runs that would’ve become assists had other forwards been more clinical. Despite missing a sitter, it was his best showing since last month’s international break.

ST: Raphinha—8.8: It’s still amazing just how comfortable he looks leading the line. Two more goals for the best center forward in the world this season.

SUB: Marc Bernal (46’ for Pedri)—6.8: Solid from Bernal, who meshed well with Rodri in their first extended look playing together.

SUB: Alejandro Balde (62’ for Cancelo)—6.8: Didn’t do anything of note with the result already in the back when he came on.

SUB: Gabriel Jesus (62’ for Raphinha)—7.2: Assisted Yamal’s brace with the first pass he played after entering the game.

SUB: Anthony Gordon (74’ for Yamal)—7.4: Came in and instantly scored a nice goal with a darting run and a sweet chip over the goalkeeper.

SUB: Gerard Martín (82’ for De Jong)—N/A

Subs not used: Wojciech Szczęsny (GK), Dominik Livaković (GK), Álex Campos, Guillem Víctor, Ebrima Tunkara, Hamza Abdelkarim, Gavi.

What the Ratings Tell Us

• Barcelona’s attack returned to its most prolific version on Saturday night. Raphinha is now up to 15 La Liga goals this season, already surpassing his 14-goal league tally from last season. Meanwhile, Yamal is up to 17 goal contributions in La Liga—the most of any U–20 player in the history of the division through 11 games. Finally, Fermín López also matches his league goal total from a season ago with his sixth strike of the campaign and has 12 goal contributions through 13 appearances in 2026–27.
• Frenkie de Jong is constantly criticized for rather silly reasons by Barça supporters, but Flick must be delighted to have the Dutchman back playing at such a high level. The midfielder avoided knee surgery and has impressed whether in midfield or covering in the heart of defense. Adding De Jong to the mix could tempt Flick to abandon his preferred set-up to deploy a trio of central midfielders with him next to Pedri and Rodri.
• It was a very solid Barça debut from Brian Fariñas, who didn’t put a foot wrong at right back despite being a natural central midfielder. Flick stated the 20-year-old “deserved to play,” and his performance against Alavés validated those words. The Catalans have added yet another incredibly capable La Masia graduate to their ranks.

The Numbers That Explain Barça’s Dominant Win

• Barcelona scored four goals from five attempts on target in the first half, producing a staggering xG of 2.23.
• Barcelona outperformed their 3.19 xG, scoring six from seven total shots on goal.
• It was an incredibly one-sided affair with Barcelona keeping 77% of possession and limiting Alavés to just 182 completed passes compared to Barça’s 771.
• The Catalans have scored four or more goals in nine of their 14 games in all competitions this season.