Dembele stars as Barca demolish Athletic Club 4-0 

Ousmane Dembele was a significant influence as Barcelona beat Athletic Club 4-0 at Camp Nou on Sunday evening in La Liga.

The win reduced Real Madrid’s lead at the top of La Liga to three points as they took an early lead with a 12th-minute strike from Ousmane Dembélé.

Barça doubled their lead five minutes later when Sergi Roberto’s deflected strike beat Simón, with Dembélé turning provider at the end of a swift break. 

Ernesto Valverde’s men were already facing a mountain to climb and were forced into a change when the injured Ander Herrera was replaced by Dani García.

The Catalans added a third, which saw Lewandowski at his majestic best inside the box. Dembélé showed some superb footwork down the right flank to tee up the Poland captain, who brilliantly swiveled in the box and smashed his shot past Simón.

Xavi’s men had further chances to kill off the contest after the breakthrough of Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres, with the hosts keen not to rest on their laurels. Dembélé got his third assist of the match when he picked out Torres.

Barça’s fourth, as the former Manchester City man fired the ball through Simón’s legs. Roberto was forced off injured late on in some pain as Barça ended the match with ten men to put a dampener on an otherwise good night for the hosts.

The result secured back-to-back wins for Barcelona and helped to lift the gloom in Catalonia following two demoralizing matches against Inter Milan and Real Madrid.

However, it was a miserable return to Barcelona for Valverde, whose side are now winless in four La Liga matches, and Los Leones’ almost 20-year wait for an away victory against Barça continues.