Everyone's going to talk about Lamine Yamal after this one, and fine, they should. Two goals, a disallowed third that got chalked off after a long VAR look at a marginal offside, and a stat FC Barcelona themselves were happy to point out: this century, only Leo Messi had also scored six goals in Barça's first four games of a LaLiga campaign. That's the kind of company that gets a teenager's name trending, and it should.
But if you watched this game and walked away talking only about Yamal, you missed the real story. Fermín López has now been involved in ten goals across his last four LaLiga meetings with Valencia, six goals and four assists, more than he's produced against any other opponent in the competition. That's a player who has simply figured out a specific team, the same way certain hitters own a certain pitcher. He scored, set up more, and got denied an even better goal by the post and the goalkeeper. That's the most undersold performance from Mestalla, and it isn't close.
Raphinha's second-half strike was tidy business too, and it moved him to 50 LaLiga goals for the club as of this matchday, part of a stretch that's seen him score eight times in his last five league appearances. Pedri capped it late. Add it up and Barcelona have scored 17 goals through four league games this season. This front line isn't waiting for October to find rhythm.
The part that should worry the rest of LaLiga more than it will: the underlying numbers suggest this scoreline actually flattered Valencia. Barça piled up an expected-goals total well north of what they needed while holding the hosts to next to nothing at the other end. It wasn't a lucky finishing day, it was control from start to finish against a team with no answer.
Real Madrid's loss at Betis on Friday means Barcelona's perfect start has already opened a three-point gap at the top, for now. This is a September gap, not a May one. But you take the free statement when the league hands it to you, and Barça did.
The uglier half of this story belongs to Valencia. Thousands of fans gathered outside Mestalla to protest club ownership, calling players mercenaries and demanding Peter Lim and Kiat Lim go home. Some ultra groups left sections empty to start the match. Players and Carlos Corberán were booed early, and jeered again at the final whistle. This is Valencia's third straight defeat after an opening draw, and they've scored only once across four league matches. That's a club in crisis, and Corberán now faces a genuinely hostile away trip to Sevilla with almost no margin left.
So yes, marvel at Yamal chasing Messi's shadow. But the number that should stick with you from Mestalla is Fermín López's private history with Valencia, and the sight of empty sections and furious supporters outside a ground where the home team has scored once in four games. Barcelona's unbeaten start is a nice story. Valencia's collapse is the more urgent one for the league right now.
