Fati on fire as Barcelona beat Valencia 3-1

Barcelona’s Ansu Fati after scoring against Valencia on Sunday. Pic/AFP

Ansu Fati came to the rescue again on Sunday by scoring a sensational goal and earning a penalty in a 3-1 victory over Valencia as Barcelona got a big week off to a winning start.

Memphis Depay slammed in the spot-kick and Philippe Coutinho, who came on for Fati on the hour, added a late third to give a comfortable complexion to a game that Valencia had led after just five minutes.

Ansu went off with Valencia still chasing an equaliser, an indication of how important Ronald Koeman considers his involvement in Wednesday's Champions League game against Dynamo Kiev, with the season's first Clasico against Real Madrid coming four days later. "We have a week with three big games at home and the first one was the most important," said Koeman.

"When you start the game with an early goal conceded there is a mental thing, but we overcame it." After losing their first two games to Bayern Munich and Benfica, Barca sit bottom of the group, meaning a victory over Kiev is all-but essential. Madrid, meanwhile, are only two points clear of Barcelona in seventh, but they have a game in hand and another significant loss on the back of the limp defeat by Atletico Madrid before the international break could have implications for Koeman's future as coach.

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