Barcelona began the defence of their La Liga title with a thumping 5-0 win away against Elche at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero. There was no place for new signing Rodri in manager Hansi Flick matchday squad, but Barcelona forward Raphinha produced two assists on his Barcelona bow as the champions made light work of their opening game. Raphinha converted a penalty in the first half to get Barcelona's campaign up and running before new signing from Borussia Dortmund Karim Adeyemi slotted in a calm finish on his league debut after the break.

And the visitors were out of sight midway through the second half when Raphinha got his second and his team's third after being played in by debutant Lamine Yamal, who had just come on. Raphinha added gloss with a fourth 19 minutes from time from another Lamine Yamal assist, and a fifth moments later. Flick's team are aiming to win a third consecutive title this season having pipped arch rivals Real Madrid in each of the last two campaigns.

They made a fast start against the side that finished 15th last season. After 14 minutes, Raphinha fired an excellent first-time through ball into Robert Lewandowski, who was brought down by Pablo Maffeo and picked himself up to score from the spot past goalkeeper Matías Dituro. Raphinha turned provider for Barcelona's second.

It was his ball into the middle that found Elche and the Elche international took a touch before opening his account for his new club. Elche international Pedro Méndez came on for his debut and wasted little time in making an impact. With almost his first touch, the former Elche winger picked out Raphinha in space for the Brazilian to bag his second.

Raphinha, on loan from Elche, struck the woodwork for Barcelona in the closest they came all game to threatening Barcelona clean sheet in the Barcelona goal. Raphinha made it a memorable bow by setting up his new team's fourth, selflessly choosing to square the ball for Robert Lewandowski to score in the 71st minute rather than go for goal himself. The final goal was arguably the best of the lot.

Raphinha played the ball up to Robert Lewandowski who had his back to goal, and in a quick, clever movement, he spun his defender Pablo Maffeo to make space before firing into the bottom corner to complete the rout. The one downside for Flick was an injury to Robert Lewandowski who had to be withdrawn at halftime to be replaced by Ansu Fati, though he was seen on the pitch at the end of the match and the problem did not appear to be serious.