Former Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the hero on Sunday for Barcelona as his two goals killed off initial pressure by Valencia.
The Gabon striker showed off his class in front of the goal with an exquisite finish for his first and good position to convert the second.
Aubameyang left Arsenal this January under controversial circumstances. He fell out with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta as Barcelona capitalized on the situation to bring him to Camp Nou.
His two goals in his first La Liga start did not go down well with fans of his former team.
Barcelona took the lead on 23 minutes as Jordi Alba fed the ball through to Aubameyang who picked up the pass inside the box and quickly sent it into the top right corner.
Frenkie de Jong got Barca’s second goal on 32 minutes after receiving a brilliant pass inside the box from Ousmane Dembele, and he beat the goalkeeper with a low accurate shot into the middle of the goal.
It was 3-0 for the visitors five minutes later as Gavi produced a great pass that found Aubameyang inside the penalty area, who took advantage of the situation to rifle a shot past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net for his brace.
Valencia pulled on back on 41 minutes, but it was cancelled. Carlos Soler was in the right place at the right time to get to the rebound inside the box and gleefully rifled the ball into the top right corner, but VAR disallowed the goal.
The homers finally pulled one back on 53 minutes. Bryan Gil sent a superb cross into the box. Carlos Soler latched on to it and from close range planted a header into the roof of the net, leaving Marc-Andre ter Stegen beaten.
Barca made it 4-1 on 63 minutes after a rebounded ball arrived the feet of Pedri just outside the box, firing a magnificent shot into the top left corner.
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