Ousmane Dembele scored and laid on a hat-trick of assists as Barcelona ripped apart Athletic Bilbao in a 4-0 win in La Liga on Sunday, to stay three points behind leaders Real Madrid.
The French winger was at his thrilling best after being brought back into the side and challenged to make a difference by his coach Xavi Hernandez, ruining former Barca manager Ernesto Valverde’s return to Camp Nou.
Dembele netted the opener and then created goals for Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski in the first half as Barcelona danced around Athletic.
Ferran Torres fired home in the second half after Dembele found him in the area to complete the drubbing.
It was Valverde’s first game facing Barcelona since being sacked in January 2020 after winning two league titles, with the team top of the table in his third campaign when he was ousted.
The visitors had started the season well after Valverde’s summer appointment and seemed capable of offering the Catalans a stern challenge.
But just as three goals in an eight-minute spell helped Barcelona vanquish Villarreal on Thursday, another treble inside 11 first-half minutes killed off Athletic.
Xavi selected Pedri to operate on the left of the attack in his 4-3-3 formation, as Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta did on occasion –- giving further credence to the already frequent comparisons between the two.
It increased the team’s fluidity, as did a double pivot of Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong, although the star dust was added by Dembele.
– Dembele takes his chance –
The French winger took the game by the scruff of the neck in the opening stages and it was no surprise when he broke the deadlock in the 12th minute.
Dembele’s long-range strike was parried by Unai Simon, but Barcelona kept the move alive and Lewandowski whipped in a cross for him to head home.
Barcelona doubled their lead six minutes later, when Roberto played a one-two with Dembele, receiving the Frenchman’s perfectly weighed pass and firing a deflected effort past Simon.
The third followed with Dembele involved again, feeding Lewandowski, who turned exquisitely in the area and slammed home. It was his 12th of the season in La Liga in 11 appearances, the division’s runaway top scorer.
Despite Barcelona’s impending Champions League elimination and Clasico defeat, the supporters remain behind Xavi, chanting his name when he protested about Dani Garcia brutally colliding with Gavi.
The 18-year-old midfielder tried to play on but went down again a few minutes later and had to be replaced.
Barca substitutes Ansu Fati and Torres both came close soon after being introduced, although the hosts were happy holding on to their comfortable advantage.
Eventually Torres did strike, teed up by Dembele, who was afforded an ovation from supporters as he was replaced by La Liga debutant Pablo Torre.
A double goal-line clearance by Busquets and then Eric Garcia denied Athletic a late consolation.
Earlier Antoine Griezmann hit a brace, including one goal direct from a corner, to earn Atletico Madrid a 2-1 win at Real Betis.
Nabil Fekir pulled a goal back for Betis in the 84th minute with a sublime free-kick, creating a tense finale but Diego Simeone’s side held out for the three points, moving third.
Griezmann, in excellent form since making his loan move from Barcelona to Atletico permanent, broke the deadlock in the 54th minute in spectacular fashion.
The French forward whipped a corner in, narrowly over Saul’s head, with the ball dipping in at the far post.
“I wanted to put (the corner) in with a tight angle, hard, and in the end there was a bit of luck too,” Griezmann told Movistar.
“I told the referee I had never scored a goal from a corner, I’m very happy.”
Griezmann now has 147 goals for the club and is only 25 short of matching Luis Aragones’s all-time club record.
Elsewhere Villarreal winger Alex Baena was sent off for lifting his shirt to reveal a tribute message to late club vice-president Jose Manuel Llaneza during a 2-1 win over Almeria.
