Perfect start extended! Raphinha and Lamine Yamal score two each as Barca puts on a five-goal Masterclass

Forwards Lamine Yamal and Raphael Dias " Raphinha ", each the author of a brace, and winger Anthony Gordon , who provided an assist and forced the own goal by Florian Lejeune , guided Barcelona to its third (5-2) victory in LaLiga EA Sports against a Rayo Vallecano side that went toe to toe with the reigning champion thanks to the outstanding performance of brace scorer Sergio Camello .

The courage of the Madrid side, which has collected one point after the first three matchdays, put Hansi Flick 's team under pressure in the second half, when the Englishman, the Spaniard and the Brazilian, the competition’s top scorer with five goals, shone to thwart the visiting side’s chances .

Barça sought to gauge its exuberant start to the season against a Rayo side that arrived for the match with only one point from the first two rounds and with a tense social atmosphere because of everything happening with the Vallecas Stadium.

In these, Beñat San José made four changes. He brought in debutant Gnangoro Bouaré in midfield, Iván Balliu at right-back, and placed Pathé Ciss at the heart of the defense.

Another of the new features was Álvaro García , positioned on the right wing and the key figure in the goal with which the visiting side stunned the reigning champion in the 12th minute. The Andalusian attacking midfielder exposed Kounde , who started at right back ahead of Eric Garcia , and delivered a precise assist to Sergio Camello , who, with a firm foot, buried the ball into the top corner.

The goal —the first conceded by Joan Garcia in LaLiga— was an accident after an encouraging start from Barça, who never stopped pressing and creating chances, but were unable to find the precision in the final third to test Dani Cardenas .

Barça found its finesse in the 19th minute, with a triangular move between Pedri, Xavi Espart and Raphinha , who shrugged off the Vallecano defense with a dribble, worthy of a center forward, to beat the opposing goalkeeper with class.

In the stands, his compatriot, Gabriel Jesus , who this Tuesday will sign his new contract as a Barça player to s trengthen the "9" position , applauded the Barça captain's fourth league goal, who is thus putting together his best scoring streak in LaLiga.

The Catalan side was suffocating Rayo with their pressure and took 1 minute and 41 seconds to score the goal that turned the scoreboard around . If in the first goal Barça dismantled Rayo in just a few touches, in the second the talent of Lamine Yamal made the difference .

After two matches, against Elche and Athletic Club , in which he looked somewhat frustrated for not having been decisive in front of goal, the striker from Mataró smiled again with a thunderous left-footed strike that picked the cobwebs out of the near top corner.

After ten minutes of madness, Barça kept pushing, with Lamine Yamal getting the crowd out of their seats with his dazzling dribbles. As if that were not enough for Beñat San José , defender J ozhua Vertrouwd had to leave the pitch in the 33rd minute due to physical discomfort. Catalan full-back Adriá Pedrosa came on in his place.

Anthony Gordon has already won over Camp Nou

Before the break, Barça slowed the tempo, something Dani Cárdenas appreciated between the posts, as he only had one scare right on the stroke of halftime. Kounde scored after taking advantage of the opposing goalkeeper's rebound from a shot by Anthony Gordon —one of the home side's standout players in the first half—but the goal was disallowed for offside by the French full-back.

After the restart, Rayo pushed its lines forward with risky pressure that troubled Barcelona in their buildup but, in turn, allowed them to create danger thanks to speedsters like Gordon .

The English side broke through down the left flank, and the move ended with an own goal by Florian Lejeune as he tried to clear the cross.

After the goal, Barça continued dominating Rayo with the ball, who in the 59th minute got back into the match with another goal from Camello . This time, Rayo's "10" got the better of Espart from a corner and beat Joan Garcia with a header.

Pau Cubarsí prevented Camello's "hat-trick" just a few minutes later, which forced Flick to shake things up. Fermín and Rodri came on to bring some order to a Barça side that looked somewhat disoriented against a confident opponent.

The Catalan side redeemed itself after a few shaky minutes with a lightning-fast combination between Gordon and Raphinha to put Rayo away. The Englishman left the Brazilian one-on-one with a backheel, and he finished with a crisp, precise shot (4-2, 71st minute).

Despite the blow of the goal, Rayo did not give up against a Barça side that, in the end, not only emerged unscathed from the final exchange of blows but also ended up thrashing Rayo with a goal from Lamine Yamal in the 90th minute, after coolly finishing an assist from Adeyemi .

5 - Barcelona: Joan Garcia; Koundé, Christensen, Cubarsí, Espart; Bernal (Rodri, 64th min), Pedri (Cancelo, 78th min); Lamine Yamal, Olmo (Fermín, 64th min), Gordon (Adeyemi, 78th min); Raphinha (Abdelkarim, 86th min).

2 - Rayo Vallecano: Cárdenas; Balliu, Lejeune, Ciss, Jozhua (Pedrosa, min.32); Bouaré (Díaz, min.57), Valentín, Unai López (Nteka, min.75); De Frutos (Pérez, min.57), Camello (Alemao, min.75) and Álvaro Garcia.

Goals: 0-1, 12th min: Camello. 1-1, 19th min: Raphinha. 2-1, 21st min: Lamine Yamal. 3-1, 51st min: Lejeune, own goal. 3-2, 59th min: Camello. 4-2, 71st min: Raphinha. 5-2, 90th min: Lamine Yamal

Referee: Francisco José Hernández. He showed a yellow card to Adrià Pedrosa (90th min.) for Rayo Vallecano.

Incidents: Matchday three of LaLiga EA Sports played at the Spotify Camp Nou stadium in front of 57,768 spectators. Before the match, the Rayo Vallecano players displayed a shirt in support of Argentine goalkeeper Augusto Batalla, who fractured his tibia.