Madrid, Feb. 20 (BNA): The last-minute scramble to secure the inclusion of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has begun to pay off for Barcelona, according to the Associated Press.
Aubameyang scored a hat-trick in his first goal since joining from Arsenal at the end of the winter transfer window, to lead the Catalan club to a 4-1 victory over Valencia in the Spanish League on Sunday.
Ousmane Dembele, who wanted Barcelona to leave but ended up staying after rejecting two offers at the transfer deadline, made his first start since and set up Frenkie de Jong’s goal as Barcelona finished a two-game run without wins in all competitions.
The result saw Xavi Hernandez’s team return to fourth place in the last Champions League qualification in La Liga.
Defending champions Atlético Madrid, who won 3-0 at Osasuna on Saturday, are fifth. Barcelona is 15 points behind the league leaders, Real Madrid, with a game in hand.
This is the fifth loss in the last seven league matches for Valencia, who are in twelfth place. He is winless in seven straight games in the competition.
Barcelona were coming out of a 1-1 draw with Napoli in the first leg of the Europa League qualifiers on Thursday. The five-time Champions League winner has returned to the second tier of European football after failing to move past the group stage of the Champions League for the first time in nearly two decades.
Barcelona struggled to take advantage of their chances against Napoli but were more effective on Sunday, scoring four times from six shots.
Aubameyang’s first goal came when he hit the top corner coolly in a one-on-one encounter in the 23rd minute. His second goal came from close range in the 38th minute after a pass from Jaffe Baez, and the Gabon striker closed the scoring with a slight redirection of Pedri Gonzalez’s long-range shot in the 63rd minute.
The goal was initially awarded to Pedri but the league later changed it to Aubameyang.
Barcelona signed 32-year-old Aubameyang after successfully handing his documents to La Liga at the last minute of the transfer deadline. He had made his debut against Napoli after coming off the bench in the second half of league matches against Atletico and Espanyol.
De Jong had added to Barcelona from inside the area by completing a Dembele pass from the right in the 32nd minute. Dembele had come off the bench against Espanyol and Napoli after the club’s request for him to leave during the transfer window was not accepted.
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