Routing Olympiacos gives Barça pre-Clásico confidence boost

BARCELONA, Spain -- Fermín López's archetypal Barcelona chapeau instrumentality and a Marcus Rashford brace helped the Spanish champions hammer Olympiacos 6-1 connected Tuesday successful the UEFA Champions League to springiness Hansi Flick's broadside a dose of assurance up of Sunday's top-of-the-table Clásico clash against LaLiga leaders Real Madrid.

The scoreline flattered Barça successful the end. Four of the goals came successful the last 25 minutes aft Olympiacos were reduced to 10 men, but Flick volition clutch to the positives arsenic helium looks to widen Barça's winning tally nether his absorption against Madrid to 5 games this weekend.

And determination were plentifulness of positives. Fermín returned from a musculus wounded disconnected the seat past week, but helium was acceptable capable to commencement present and delivered a session successful finishing. His 2nd and 3rd goals were peculiarly good taken, and his chapeau instrumentality would person arrived sooner but for a deft header from a Lamine Yamal transverse dropping conscionable wide.

"I americium truly blessed -- we needed a triumph similar this," Fermín told reporters. "The feelings were truly bully aft the crippled and present we tin crook our attraction to the Clásico. And connected apical of that, my archetypal chapeau trick. It's an implicit imagination to person the lucifer ball, signed by each teammates, to instrumentality location with me."

Rashford, meanwhile, grew into his relation arsenic the team's No. 9 successful the lack of Robert Lewandowski. By the extremity of the game, aft netting a stunning 2nd extremity with a onslaught with minimal backmost assistance from the borderline of the box, helium was trying each sorts of tricks.

The England planetary -- astatine 27, the oldest outfield subordinate of a young Barça XI that included a afloat European debut for 17-year-old Dro Fernández -- is settling successful well. That is present 5 goals and 5 assists successful 12 appearances. No Barça subordinate has much extremity contributions this season.

"I deliberation erstwhile helium has much assurance and knows the others overmuch better, helium volition besides beryllium overmuch better," Flick warned successful his post-game quality conference.

Barcelona had needed a blowout similar this. Back-to-back defeats had been followed by a labored, last-minute triumph against Girona astatine the weekend, raising questions astir the team's signifier heading into the Clásico connected Sunday.

Flick has publically acknowledged the squad are not hitting the heights that brought a home treble past year. He wants much intensity, blaming the positioning and the pressing, usually led by the injured Raphinha, for a driblet disconnected and the crushed wherefore opponents are much readily exploiting Barça's precocious line.

For ample parts of the night, this was not overmuch of an improvement, either. Barça switched disconnected aft Fermín enactment them a extremity up and, contempt getting a 2nd earlier the interruption done the aforesaid player, fto Olympiacos backmost into the crippled successful the 2nd half.

The Greek side, who pulled a extremity backmost from the punishment spot via Ayoub El Kaabi, volition consciousness aggrieved astir the concatenation of events that took this crippled distant from ...