Barcelona 6-1 Alaves: Raphinha and Yamal score twice each as Flick's side go back two points clear of Atletico
Barcelona thrashed Alaves 6-1 at Camp Nou to lead La Liga by two points after two painful defeats, with Atletico Madrid to come next Sunday.
At a glance
- Barcelona beat Deportivo Alaves 6-1 at Camp Nou on Saturday, October 31, 2026, with two goals each from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.
- The win puts Barcelona back two points clear of Atletico Madrid, who won 2-0 at Levante earlier in the day for a seventh straight league win.
- Raphinha now has 15 league goals and leads the La Liga scoring chart.
- Barcelona host Aston Villa in the Champions League on Tuesday, then travel to Atletico next Sunday.
Barcelona beat Deportivo Alaves 6-1 at Camp Nou on Saturday, October 31, 2026, to return to the top of La Liga, two points ahead of Atletico Madrid. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal scored twice each, with Fermin Lopez and substitute Anthony Gordon adding the others. It was the answer Hansi Flick wanted after a Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and a home Clasico loss to Real Madrid.
Atletico had spent a few hours in first place. Diego Simeone's side won 2-0 at Levante earlier in the day, through Alejandro Grimaldo and Giuliano Simeone, to go a point clear before Barcelona kicked off.
Four goals before the break, with a makeshift defence
Injuries forced Flick to improvise. Frenkie de Jong, a midfielder, played at centre-back, and youngster Brian Farinas made his first start at right-back. Alaves barely tested the idea.
Raphinha opened the scoring in the eighth minute after Lopez set him up. Lopez then added the second himself on 23 minutes, though it may not have been meant as a shot: from a tight angle, his strike across goal went in at the far post when he seemed to be trying to cross.
Karim Adeyemi and Yamal both missed from close range before Raphinha showed them how, running through from another Lopez pass and finishing across goalkeeper Antonio Sivera for his 15th league goal of the season. Yamal then made up for his miss with a low shot from the edge of the box in first-half stoppage time.
The second half added two more for the home side. Yamal dinked over the keeper after a pass from substitute Gabriel Jesus, and Gordon, also off the bench, finished in almost the same way. Former Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz scored late for Alaves.
| Minute | Scorer | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8' | Raphinha | 1-0 |
| 23' | Fermin Lopez | 2-0 |
| First half | Raphinha | 3-0 |
| 45+' | Lamine Yamal | 4-0 |
| Second half | Lamine Yamal | 5-0 |
| Second half | Anthony Gordon | 6-0 |
| Late | Mariano Diaz (Alaves) | 6-1 |
Lopez was the quiet difference
Yamal and Raphinha will take the headlines, but Lopez had a hand in three of the first three goals: two passes and one finish of his own. He spoke after the game about the hard week the squad had just lived through and said there was no better place than Camp Nou to bounce back.
Alaves have now gone seven league matches without a win, though they remain 10th. Midfielder Ander Guevara said his team had to turn the page quickly and that there was no need to sound the alarm.
A minute's silence for the Toledo train victims
Every La Liga game on Saturday began with a minute's silence in memory of the 69 people killed in this week's train crash in the province of Toledo. Barcelona's goals came on a day when football in Spain had already stopped to remember them.
The next eight days decide a lot
Atletico have won seven in a row and Simeone is playing it down, saying the end of the season is still very far away. Barcelona's week is the harder one:
| Date | Barcelona's fixture | Competition |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, November 3 | Aston Villa (home) | Champions League |
| Sunday, November 8 | Atletico Madrid (away) | La Liga |
That second game, between first and second, is the next big date in the title race.
