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Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has praised new signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after his display for the club over the weekend. Aubameyang scored a hat-trick as the Blaugrana thrashed Valencia 4-1 in Lga at the Mestalla last night (February 20).
The Gabonese forward had failed to open his account for the Catalans in the three matches he played previously. However, Aubameyang was on fire against Los Murcielagos, scoring twice in the first half and adding a third in the final half an hour.
Speaking after the match, Busquets lauded the striker's impact and said (as quoted by Barca Blaugranes):
“Since Auba arrived he’s been working hard. We knew he hadn’t played much but this is the second game he’s started. He’s a fabulous player and having him in the squad is a real luxury for us.”
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The Spaniard also praised Barcelona's performance, adding:
“It’s been an important win today. Especially in the first half we were very effective and it gave us the control of the game and the calm to continue playing our style, find free men, and we played a good game in general.”
Busquets concluded:
“Valencia is very intense, they play the second ball very well, as was seen in the goal, but afterwards we played well and were faithful to our style and we played a very complete game.”
Barcelona will be high on confidence ahead of crucial Napoli clash
The win against Valencia took Barcelona back into the top-four of La Liga. They now occupy the final UEFA Champions League spot with 42 points from 24 matches. Xavi Hernandez's side are just four points off Real Betis in third with a game in hand.
More importantly, their performance finally displayed glimpses of what Xavi is trying to achieve with this new-look Blaugrana side. While it was only against a 12th-placed Valencia side, a convincing victory will give the Catalans plenty of confidence moving forward.
Their immediate challenge now is the second leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 against Napoli. Barcelona travel to Naples after a 1-1 draw at the Nou Camp. They will need an outright win in Italy to progress through to the next round as the away-goal rule has been scrapped.
Xavi's troops will return to league action after the match against Napoli and will take on Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames on February 27.
