Barcelona were in irresistible form against Crvena Zvezda on Wednesday evening, putting five past their Serbian opponents in a game that turned into a Champions League thrashing.
Zvezda had the ball in the net within three minutes but VAR ruled the goal out for a relatively obvious offside and Barcelona had the lead just over 10 minutes later, as Inigo Martinez headed in Raphinha’s superb delivery.
But on 26 minutes, Zvezda equalised in superb fashion. Having been sent beyond Barca’s backline, Silas chipped Inaki Pena with a delightful finish.
Just two minutes before half-time, Barca were back ahead. Raphinha’s shot hit the post and Robert Lewandowski used his poacher’s instinct to finish from close-range.
After the restart, Lewandowski had a chance to put the game to bed as he was found in the area but he amazingly blazed the ball wide. Just seconds later, he atoned, finishing from close-range after Jules Kounde’s cross.
Raphinha capped Barca’s early second-half blitz with a clever, low finish from the edge of the box, again after Kounde’s cross.
On 76 minutes, after his introduction as a substitute, Fermin Lopez finished another excellent Kounde cut-back, his third assist of the game.
Crvena had time to pull a goal back through Felicio Milson, a stunning curled effort from just inside the box.
GOAL rates Barcelona’s players from Red Star Stadium…