The Catalans climbed to the top of the LaLiga table for the time being following their 4-0 win over Cadiz.
Minnows Cadiz had held the free-scoring Barcelona to a stalemate by the time the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the first period. But, their hopes of seeing out an important draw were dashed when, just ten minutes after the restart, Frenkie de Jong put the Blaugrana ahead with a simple tap-in from close range after custodian Jeremias Ledesma had spilled the ball into his path.
Five minutes past the hour mark, Robert Lewandowski arrived on the scene with a late run to score his customary goal with the ball loose by the goalline after Cadiz’s failure to clear it to safety.
The Pole could’ve had two, but the forward unselfishly squared the ball to Ansu Fati in the 86th minute with just Ledesma to beat for a simple finish from close range, putting Barca 3-0 up on the night.
There was a late goal for Ousmane Dembele, too. Sent through by Lewandowski, the Frenchman turned inside before cutting back outside, and scored past the goalkeeper with a strong finish.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid put four past Celta Vigo in a comfortable 4-1 win at the Wanda Metropolitano. Angel Correa had put the hosts ahead in the ninth minute; the Argentine ran onto a flick by his compatriot Rodrigo de Paul before smashing his shot into the roof of the net from close range.
De Paul scored himself later, his curling effort taking a huge deflection off a Celta defender and crawling over the goalline with Agustin Marchesin diving the wrong way.
Yannick Carrasco scored a third for his side in the 66th minute, driving confidently with the ball before putting a powerful shot past Marchesin at the near post. Gabri Veiga pulled one back for Celta five minutes later, but an own goal by Unai Nunez at the other end shortly after putting the game beyond any doubt – and sealed the points for Atleti.
