Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised his team’s hunger for goals as they routed Valencia 7-1 in LaLiga on Sunday.
Fermín López scored twice, with Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Robert Lewandowski also on target as Barça bought up 101 goals in all competitions this season.
It was the second time Barça have scored seven in a single game under Flick, while they have now scored four or more times in 14 of their 32 matches in this campaign.
“I love this hunger the team has, that shows in the matches, especially today,” Flick said in his post-game news conference.
“It’s not finished with the 2-0 or the 3-0. They go to the end of the match. This is what I love and what we like to play. It’s good to see this.”
Barça blew Valencia away with five goals in the first half. De Jong, Torres and Raphinha all scored inside 15 minutes, with López adding two more before the break.
Hugo Duro pulled one back for Valencia, but Lewandowski restored Barça’s five goal advantage and a César Tárrega own goal completed the hammering.
The win moves Barça within three points of second placed Atlético Madrid, but they are still seven adrift of leaders Real Madrid.
“We said before the match, now we want to start because LaLiga is not nice to see at the moment,” Flick added of Barça’s standing in the table.
“Now we start. We have a good start today and we want to follow that next Sunday, in the next league match at home.
“We have to play like this and then I think everyone is happy, the fans, the club, the players and the coaches.”
With Pedri and Dani Olmo missing through injury, Flick took the chance to give minutes to fringe players.
He praised those that came in and performed, such as López and De Jong, but also highlighted the camaraderie among the squad via a gesture from midfielder Gavi, who remained on the bench.
“The situation I’m most impressed with is when I spoke with Gavi,” he said. “Normally I bring him on with 15 minutes to go and he said no, bring Pablo Torre in.
“You can see the team how they are connected. It’s fantastic to see as a coach. I love Gavi for this. You know he wants to play every match and to say this in this situation, it’s top.”
Flick also appeared to suggest Wojciech Szczęsny will remain as first choice goalkeeper for the immediate future, ahead of Iñaki Peña, after handing him his LaLiga debut against Valencia.
Barça are next in action on Wednesday when they host Atalanta in their final Champions League group phase game having already booked their place in the last 16.
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