Rampant Raphinha Bags Brace As Barcelona Rout Feyenoord
Raphinha continued his superb goalscoring form with a brace as Barcelona demolished Feyenoord 5-1 to begin their Champions League campaign in perfect fashion on Wednesday.
Raphinha continued his superb goalscoring form with a brace as Barcelona demolished Feyenoord 5-1 to begin their Champions League campaign in perfect fashion on Wednesday. Karim Adeyemi curled home brilliantly from long range in between Raphinha's strikes and Lamine Yamal bent in a free-kick as Hansi Flick's team made light work of their Dutch visitors. After Sem Steijn pulled one back, Barca substitute Gabriel Jesus netted a fifth, the forward's first goal since joining from Arsenal this summer. The Catalan giants, who last won the competition in 2015, have triumphed in all five of their matches across all competitions this season -- and scored five goals in four of them.
"The first five games, we did really good. We scored a lot of goals but the most important thing is we are playing like a team, like one unit," Flick told reporters.
"We controlled the game, we are dominant and this is fantastic to see. This is our style and how we want to play."
Winger Raphinha has been playing up front after Barca sold Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres, and has rapidly taken to his new position, plundering eight goals in five games.
"Playing in front of our fans we always have to show perfect football, or nearly perfect, and with the support of the fans it's a lot easier," Barca captain Raphinha told Movistar.
"I think we were very good, from the start of the game, controlling the game and with the chances we had we were able to score and it gives us a lot of confidence."
The Brazil international said that despite the club's excellent start, there was still a long way to go.
"In a season as long as this, there are many ups and downs," added Raphinha.
"Starting the season like this obviously gives us a lot of confidence and we have to continue like this.
"We have to hope the downs are as small as possible."
Barca storm out of blocks
After days of baking weather in Barcelona, a storm broke ahead of the game, lashing rain down on the Camp Nou pitch and sending supporters scurrying for shelter.
By the time it stopped pouring early in the first half, Barcelona were already ahead against Giovanni Van Bronckhorst's side.
Raphinha netted the opener after three minutes.
The Brazilian was razor sharp to break into the box and cut inside, sending two defenders sliding the wrong way on the slick turf, before slotting home.
Adeyemi, in for Anthony Gordon, doubled Barcelona's lead with a superb strike from outside the area, bent beyond Feyenoord goalkeeper Tjark Ernst.
Joao Cancelo hit the post before Raphinha netted again in the second half for Barca's third, running on to Pedri's perfect through-ball and slotting home.
The Dutch side thought they had pulled one back straight away when Nacho Ferri slotted home but it was disallowed after a VAR review for offside in the build-up.
Yamal bagged Barca's fourth, direct from a free-kick which crept through the wall, his first such strike for the club.
Feyenoord sent on Shaqueel van Persie, the 19-year-old son of former Dutch international Robin van Persie, to try and salvage some pride.
Steijn eventually pulled one back for the visitors when he escaped Jules Kounde and Goncalo Borges picked him out with a dangerous low cross to the back post.
It was the only blot on Barca's copy book on an otherwise strong start to their league phase, rounded off by Jesus's glancing header from Yamal's cross for the fifth.
Odegaard Gives Arsenal Winning Start At Napoli
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard's sensational late strike broke stern Napoli resistance as the English champions began their bid for Champions League glory with a hard-fought 1-0 win in Naples on Wednesday.
Mikel Arteta's side, who lost to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in last season's final, spurned several glorious chances against the well-drilled hosts before the Norwegian lashed a shot off the post and in from the edge of the area with 15 minutes to go.
It continued a perfect start to the campaign for Arsenal, who began their Premier League title defence with three wins in a row before condemning Massimiliano Allegri's team to a third consecutive defeat.
Arsenal's next European test comes at home to Lille on Tuesday, October 13, while Napoli travel to Villarreal on the same day as they look to bounce back.
Injuries to Scott McTominay and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa forced Allegri into a midfield reshuffle as Kevin De Bruyne and Billy Gilmour came in, while left-back Mathias Olivera was also selected after the hosts let a two-goal lead slip to lose 3-2 away to Inter Milan on Saturday.
Arteta made four changes from Arsenal's 2-1 win over Chelsea on Sunday as Piero Hincapie, Mikel Merino, Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres earned their first starts of the season.
The hosts set out to soak up pressure and frustrate last season's runners-up, who struggled to break the low block early on and were almost caught out at the other end when De Bruyne and Matteo Politano both called goalkeeper David Raya into action.
Arsenal carved out a big chance midway through the first half when Merino's header from eight yards out was pushed over the bar by Alex Meret.
The Gunners, who won all eight of their league phase games to kickstart their run to the final last season, continued to probe as Ben White produced a tame finish from a promising position before Meret scooped a Hincapie cross-shot off his line.
Rasmus Hojlund's hold-up play was proving a useful weapon for Napoli on the counter, as Politano forced another save from Raya.
But it was Arsenal who ended the first half feeling they should have been in front after Saka was played through on goal and had only the keeper to beat, only to lift a poor finish over the bar.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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