Lewandowski bags hat-trick as Barcelona swagger past Alaves

Robert Lewandowski continued his fine form by scoring a first-half hat-trick as the league leaders defeated a spirited Alaves side at the Mendizorrotza Stadium.

Hansi Flick’s men went into the fixture having dropped their first league points of the season in a disappointing 4-2 defeat at Osasuna last week. But the Catalan side never looked like leaving with anything but the three points.

Lewandowski’s cool finishing was the difference in a match but both sides had their chances in an entertaining end-to-end game. Once the Pole had completed his hat-trick in the 32nd minute, it was difficult to see how Alaves could get back into the game. To their credit they knocked on Barcelona’s door, having two goals chalked off and multiple chances in the second half to reduce the deficit. But it was not to be.

Flick will leave the Basque region a happy manager. Having been pegged back at the top of La Liga after Real Madrid’s 2-0 win against Villarreal on Saturday night, they now head into the international break three points clear at their rivals on 24 points after nine games.

Barcelona are next in action when they take on Sevilla at Camp Nou in two weeks’ time. Alaves, who slip a place to 11th, are next up at home to Valladolid.

The ex-Bayern Munich man was in fine form in front of goal and has now scored 12 goals in all competitions this season.

His first-half treble was a collection of typically clinical finishes that belied his age. He might be 36-years-old but he appears to be in as good form as ever, having already scored a brace in the 5-0 UEFA Champions League victory over Young Boys this week. But it was not just putting the ball in the back of the net where he excelled.

He also won seven duels during the 90 minutes – more than any other player on the pitch. He also joins two other Barcelona players (Raphinha and Lamine Yamal) in the top five European leagues that have +9 goal involvements so far this season. And his hat-trick puts him fourth in the earliest hat-trick ever by a Barcelona player in a La Liga game (behind Samuel Eto’o in 24 mins, Justo Tejada in 28 mins and Lionel Messi in 30 mins).

it could only be the deadly Polish striker. He wrapped up a hat-trick inside 32 minutes and he could have done it 10 minutes sooner. This was his first La Liga hat-trick since April in a 4-2 victory over Valencia.

Alaves: Sivera 6, Sanchez 5, Mourino 5, Abqar 5, Tenaglia 4, Guevara 5, Blanco 5, Rebbach 6, Stoichkov 6, Vicente 6, Martinez 6. Subs: Conechny 6, Garcia 5, Diarra 5, Pica 5, Jordan 5.

Barcelona: Pena 5, Balde 8, Martinez 7, Cubarsi 7, Fort 6, Pedri 8, Casado 7, Torres n/a, Raphinha 8 , Yamal 6, Lewandowski 9. Subs: Garcia 7, Fati 7, de Jong 5, Martin 5, Kounde 5.

7′ – GOAL! ALAVES 0-1 BARCELONA (Lewandowski): The Polish forward continues his fine form, peeling off his marker and heading straight into the left hand corner of the net.

22′ – GOAL! ALAVES 0-2 BARCELONA (Lewandowski): What a goal in transition. Lewandowski is already on a hat-trick.

32′ – GOAL! ALAVES 0-3 BARCELONA (Lewandowski): You guessed it. Hat-trick for the Pole in half an hour.

44′ – DISALLOWED GOAL! Martinez beats Pena and thinks he has given his side a lifeline before the break, but a VAR review calls offside.

85′ – DISALLOWED GOAL! Alaves have a second goal disallowed. Mourino remonstrates in disbelief.