Barcelona v Espanyol – story of the match

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick and substitute Ousmane Dembele set up a late goal for Luis Suarez as Barcelona romped to a 5-0 win in the Catalan derby against Espanyol at the Nou Camp.

Messi put Barcelona on their way with the opening goal after 26 minutes, although he looked to have been offside. The Argentinian playmaker then doubled the lead 10 minutes before half-time, and completed his hat-trick just after the hour.

Gerard Pique’s header made it 4-0 with three minutes left before £96.8million signing Dembele, who came on after 68 minutes, laid a fifth on a plate for Suarez in stoppage time.

“Great game! Always special to win the derby!!!” Veteran Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta, who posted a picture from the dressing room celebrating alongside team-mate Nelson Semedo (@andresiniesta8)

Lionel Messi. While the Argentina number 10 was at least a yard offside when collecting a pass from Ivan Rakitic to open the scoring, he remained at the heart of everything Barcelona produced going forwards. Was in the right place at the right time to make the most of his own opportunities when completing a hat-trick, while also showing great patience as team-mate Luis Suarez looked to be set for one of those nights before finally finding the back of the net when teed-up by substitute Ousmane Dembele in stoppage time.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde had restisted the temptation to throw Dembele straight into the thick of the action following the 20-year-old’s big-money high-profile switch from Borussia Dortmund, but the loudest cheer of the night from the Nou Camp faithful greeted his inytoduycing on 68 minutes, when the result was already secure. Dembele was given a warm welcome to LaLiga when chopped down by Aaron Caricol after showing the left-back some fancy footwork, the France forward showed a glimpse of what Barcelona could end up shelling out a cool £135.5million for when darting down the right before laying the ball across for Suarez to slot in a fifth goal in stoppage time.

Barcelona have played three LaLiga games – with three victories, scoring nine goals and are yet to concede after Lionel Messi netter a 42nd career hat-trick, 38 of which have come for his club.

Barcelona: Marc-Andre ter Stegen 7 (out of 10), Nelson Semedo 6, Gerard Pique 8, Samuel Umtiti 7, Jordi Alba 8, Gerard Deulofeu 7, Ivan Rakitic 7, Sergi Busquets 7, Andres Iniesta 7, Lionel Messi 9, Luis Suerez 7; Paulinho (for Busquets, 73) 6, Andre Gomes (for Iniesta, 77) 6, Ousmane Dembele (for Deulofeu, 68) 8.

Espanyol: Pau Lopez 7, Sergio Sanchez 6, David Lopez 6, Hermoso 5, Aaron Caricol 5, Pablo Piatti 6, Pape Diop 6, Javi Fuego 5, Sergi Darder 5, Leo Baptistao 6, Gerard Moreno 5; Marc Navarro (for Sanchez, 68) 6, Sergio Garcia (for Piatti, 57) 6, Didac Vila (for Darder, 71) 6.

Barcelona v Juventus (Champions League, September 12)

Espanyol v Celta Vigo (LaLiga, September 18)