Silky Barcelona destroy returning Valverde’s Athletic

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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 the 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, but it did not go to plan for him.

“It’s been a horrible day because we lost 4-0,” said the coach. “They punished us today.”

Just as three goals in an eight-minute spell helped Barcelona vanquish Villarreal on Thursday, another quick-fire treble killed off Athletic.

“We came out very strongly, we knew that they are intense and we had to match them,” captain Sergio Busquets told Movistar. “We overpowered them in the middle and we were accurate.

“I am sure Xavi is happy. The objective is to win and to do it in a complete way, playing well. This elevates the level of the team.”

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 Busquets and Frenkie de Jong, although the star dust was added by Dembele.