Aubameyang scores hat-trick as Barca sink Valencia 4-1

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. Pic/AFP

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang marked his first La Liga start for Barcelona with a hat-trick on Sunday as the Catalans thrashed Valencia 4-1 to climb back into La Liga's top four. Aubameyang scored twice in the first half either side of a Frenkie de Jong tap-in as a free-flowing Barca hit Valencia with three goals in 15 minutes before the interval.

And while Valencia briefly raised hopes of a comeback when Carlos Soler headed home Bryan Gil's cross, a long-range Pedri strike flew in off Aubameyang's back to complete an impressive victory.

In his post-match interviews, Aubameyang believed the fourth goal was Pedri's but Barcelona later confirmed the referee had attributed it to Aubameyang, giving the Gabonese striker his hat-trick.

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