Yamal and Raphinha lead 6-1 rout as Barcelona retake La Liga lead

Barcelona defeated Alaves 6-1 at Camp Nou on Saturday to reclaim the top spot in La Liga. The win erased the sting of two defeats in the previous seven days.

Raphinha and Lamine Yamal each scored two goals. Fermin Lopez added a strike in the first half. Anthony Gordon, coming off the bench, chipped in the sixth goal. Mariano Diaz scored the only goal for Alaves.

Hansi Flick's team had lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and fell to Real Madrid in El Clasico earlier in the week. Lopez credited the home crowd for the turnaround. "It was a hard week for us. There was no better place than Camp Nou in front of our fans [to bounce back]," he told Movistar.

Lopez also pointed to the impact of the two stars. "They make the difference, Lamine and Raphinha. With them, we will achieve big things."

Atletico Madrid won 2-0 at Levante earlier in the day. Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone found the net. That victory gave them a seven-game winning streak in the league. However, Barcelona's margin of victory put them two points ahead of the Atletico side.

Alex Baena assisted both goals for Atletico. The win gave Diego Simeone his 344th league victory as manager. That total matches the club record set by Luis Aragones. Simeone noted that the team is still far from the end of the season.

Barcelona will host Aston Villa in the Champions League on Tuesday. They will then travel to face Atletico in a title match next Sunday. Alaves remains 10th after seven matches without a win. Ander Guevara said the team needs to move on quickly without sounding alarms.