Poland striker Robert Lewandowski‘s brace earned depleted Barcelona a 2-1 comeback win at Valencia in their first competitive game under new coach Hansi Flick to begin he LaLiga season on Saturday.
Missing several key players, Barça were dominated by their hosts early in the match and fell behind when Valencia’s Hugo Duro netted a close-range header in the 44th minute.
Barcelona hit back quickly, however, scoring either side of half-time through Lewandowski who tapped home Lamine Yamal‘s cross deep into added time before the break and fired an unstoppable penalty into the top corner after Raphinha was fouled just after the interval.
“I think the first 20-25 minutes, we didn’t play well but what’s more important is before the end of the first half we scored a goal,” Lewandowski told ESPN afterward. “And in the second half, from the beginning, we knew we had to play more with the ball and get the game under control.
“We had another option to score a goal but this stadium for the first game of the season is very difficult to play and in the end we have three points. And we were working as a team and, especially as we had a lot of young players on the pitch, this is very important for us.”
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.