FC Barcelona kept their brilliant run of form going with another commanding 4-0 win over Cadiz away from home to briefly go top of the La Liga standings.
With one eye on the Champions League clash with Bayern Munich, Xavi decided to rest his key players and introduce a host of changes to the side who romped to a 5-1 midweek Champions League triumph over Viktoria Plzen.
They were still far too good for Cadiz, a side Barcelona had not beaten since 2006.
The game began on equal footing with the hosts and the visitors starting cautiously. Catalans still had the better players on the field and it showed as they managed to break into dangerous areas several times but still found no success.
Raphinha came the closest to opening the scoring when his effort struck the post with Jeremias Ledesma beaten.
Cadiz managed to hold on for the first half but it all changed 10 minutes after halftime when Frenkie De Jong fired Barcelona in front from a rebound after Ledesma parried away Gavi’s pass.
Their misery was compounded when Xavi sent on Robert Lewandowski and the Pole continued his strong start to the season by scoring Barcelona’s second in the 65th minute to put the visitors in command.
With time running out, Cadiz had to venture forward leaving spaces open for the counterattack and the Catalans used it to their advantage to add a third through Ansu Fati who was selflessly set up by Lewandowski who decided to square the ball with only the keeper to beat in his path.
There was still time for Ousmane Dembele to add his name to the scoresheet in the 92nd minute to send Barcelona top of the league table ahead of Real Madrid who host Mallorca today.
