Reigning La Liga champions began the new campaign with a 5-0 victory over Villarreal in the Camp Nou.
Young Spanish midfielder Thiago opened the scoring in the 25th minute, running unchallenged before firing low into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
The hosts doubled their advantage on the stroke of half-time courtesy of the returning Cesc Fabregas. Lionel Messi was the creator, sliding a pass through the Villarreal defence for Fabregas to neatly round goalkeeper Diego Lopez and tap into an empty net.
Another new signing, Alexis Sanchez, made it 3-0 two minutes after the re-start before Messi rounded off the scoring with a brace following assists from Andres Iniesta and Thiago.
Written by
Liam Apicella
Liam Apicella
