Barcelona dismantle Alavés as Raphinha and Lamine Yamal run riot
Braces from Raphinha and Yamal, plus goals from Fermín López and Anthony Gordon, sink Alavés, who manage only a consolation in LaLiga’s 11th round.
By Dr. Talal Othman, General Manager — GCC Sport
This was less a contest than a long lesson in the gap between a side that knows exactly what it wants and one that arrived hoping simply to survive. Barcelona scored six, and it might have been more had they not eased off once the outcome was settled well before half-time.
Raphinha set the tone almost immediately. Eight minutes in, the Brazilian had the ball in the net, and whatever defensive plan Alavés had drawn up in the dressing room was already out of date. The early goal was only the overture: Barcelona’s pressing hardened into a siege, and the visitors spent more time chasing the ball than touching it.
On 23 minutes Fermín López, the academy product with a knack for arriving in spaces no one else has noticed, doubled the lead. From there the evening held no mystery, and Alavés were reduced to damage limitation.
Raphinha struck again four minutes before the break to complete his brace, and in the first minute of stoppage time Lamine Yamal joined the party. A fourth goal before the interval, signed by the teenager who now carries a weight that players a decade older rarely bear. At 4-0 the only question left was the size of the defeat, not its author.
The second half changed nothing. On 64 minutes Yamal added his second and Barcelona’s fifth, a finish that distilled everything that makes him the most dangerous talent in Spanish football: composure at the decisive moment and a left foot that finds the corner before the goalkeeper has measured the angle. Anthony Gordon made it six on 81 minutes, ensuring almost nobody in the front line was left out of the celebrations.
Alavés did find the net once, a consolation that will tidy up the record books more than it reflects what happened on the pitch. The Basque side never located the rhythm or the courage needed to compete, and their back line looked like it was facing wave after wave with no time to breathe in between.
The verdict needs little interpretation. Barcelona did not merely win; they put on a show. A front line taking turns to score, wingers turning the flanks into launch pads, and a young star growing more complete by the week. Alavés, meanwhile, would do well to forget this night quickly. Results like this linger only in a coach’s nightmares.
Match facts
- Competition: LaLiga, Round 11
- Date: Saturday 31 October 2026
- Score: Barcelona 6–1 Alavés
- Barcelona scorers: Raphinha (8, 41), Fermín López (23), Lamine Yamal (45+1, 64), Anthony Gordon (81)
