Carrying their devastating domestic La Liga form onto the European stage, Spanish giants FC Barcelona kicked off their new UEFA Champions League campaign in style with a 5–1 victory over Dutch club Feyenoord at a rain-soaked Camp Nou. Under manager Hansi Flick, the Catalans achieved a remarkable feat by scoring five goals in four of their first five competitive matches this season, bringing their overall goal tally to an incredible 22.
Following the departure of Robert Lewandowski, Flick fielded a side without a traditional natural number 9, successfully deploying Brazilian winger Raphinha as a makeshift center-forward. Raphinha opened the scoring in the third minute off a sharp setup from Lamine Yamal. In the 22nd minute, Karim Adeyemi doubled the lead with a curling strike from outside the box following a pass from João Cancelo. Raphinha secured his brace in the 57th minute after latching onto a precise through-ball from Pedri, before Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal made it 4–0 with a stunning direct free-kick in the 77th minute.
Although Feyenoord’s Sem Steijn pulled one back in the 82nd minute, late deadline-day signing Gabriel Jesus restored the four-goal cushion just three minutes later (85th minute), heading home a cross from Yamal to mark his debut goal for Barcelona. The hosts closed out the match with a commanding 5–1 victory.
