SUPER Eagles defender Bruno Onyemaechi was a second-half substitute for Olympiacos but could do little to stop the Greek side from losing 6-1 to Barcelona in their UEFA Champions League clash in Spain tonight.
Fermin Lopez scored a hat-trick and Marcus Rashford took his personal tally to four goals from three Champions League games as the LaLiga champions thrashed Onyemaechi’s side.
Two smart first-half finishes from Lopez put Barcelona in control, before his third, a Lamine Yamal penalty and a Rashford double halted a short-lived Olympiacos fightback.
After playing Yamal through on goal in the seventh minute, Lopez was on hand to finish past the defenders on the goal-line when goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis made a block but could not keep hold of the ball.
The Spanish midfielder doubled Barcelona’s lead half an hour later when he ran on to Dro Fernandez’s ball into space, cut inside and curled a left-footed strike into the left corner.
The second half began in bizarre circumstances. Morocco striker Ayoub El Kaabi thought he had halved the deficit with a header, but after checking on the pitchside monitor, referee Urs Schnyder chalked off the goal for offside and instead awarded the visitors a penalty for a handball by Eric Garcia, which El Kaabi converted via ....
Three minutes later Olympiacos midfielder Santiago Hezze was shown a second yellow card and sent off for catching Lopez with a flailing arm.
This was a night when Yamal became the youngest player to reach 25 Champions League appearances – at 18 years and 100 days – and the teenager tucked away a penalty after Rashford was brought down while attempting to round Tzolakis.
Barcelona were not finished and were hungry for goals. In the 74th minute Rashford beat Tzolakis with a well-placed low finish, and then two minutes later Lopez smashed in his third from the edge of the box.
Lopez is the first Spaniard to score a hat-trick for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.
He is also the first Spanish player to net a hat-trick in the competition since Lucas Perez for Arsenal against Basel in December 2016, according to Opta statistics.
Rashford drilled his second after controlling a cross-field pass with a delightful touch.
Barcelona have six points after three games after beating Newcastle 2-1 and losing to Paris St-Germain by the same scoreline. Olympiacos remain on one point.
With agency report