According to BBC Sport, Barcelona defeated Olympiacos Piraeus 6-1 in their UEFA Champions League Round 3 match on Tuesday at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys after putting on a strong performance.
Fermín López, who scored a hat-trick to lead Barcelona to their second group stage victory, was the night’s most impressive player.
Within the opening 20 seconds of the game, Daniel Podence put Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny to the test. Barcelona immediately established control in spite of the early warning. Fermín López scored the first goal after Marcus Rashford’s first attempt went over the crossbar. After regaining possession, he skilfully teamed up with Lamine Yamal and slid the ball past two defenders to give the home team the lead. Olympiacos had intermittent opportunities, including a deflected Dani García effort that missed the crossbar, but Rashford kept up the danger with a well-placed free kick.
Chiquinho’s injury required an early substitute, which allowed Barcelona to take advantage of a weakened Olympiacos defence. In the 39th minute, Fermín López skilfully finished off a ball from Dro Fernández to extend the lead and make it 2-0 at the interval. In the second half, the Blaugrana kept up their pace and tried to increase their lead. Following a complex play involving Eric García, Olympiacos briefly cut the gap when Ayoub El Kaabi converted a penalty after Fermín was denied a third goal by a vital stop from Konstantinos Tzolakis.
Following Santiago Hezze’s second yellow card, Olympiacos was reduced to ten men, and Barcelona swiftly seized control. Lamine Yamal comfortably scored the penalty when Rashford was fouled shortly after, restoring the two-goal lead. After that, the Blaugrana scored three goals in five minutes as they went on a scoring rampage. Fermín López finished his hat-trick, and Rashford scored twice with accurate finishes to ensure a decisive win.
The victory demonstrated Barcelona’s attacking depth and tenacity, especially after their Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain earlier. Olympiacos, on the other hand, have lost three of their previous four games in all competitions and are still struggling, sitting at a single point. In contrast, Barcelona thrilled their fans at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys by extending their undefeated home record against Greek teams to eight games.
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