Fermin bags hat-trick in Barcelona Champions League rout
Barcelona stormed to a commanding 6-1 victory over Olympiacos in the Champions League, led by a superb hat-trick from Fermin Lopez.
Daniel Podence struck a frantic shot on target just 18 seconds in to try and unsettle the host, but Fermin soon calmed Barca's nerves with the opener after just seven minutes, finishing calmly inside the box after a neat exchange with Lamine Yamal on the right.
The Spaniard then doubled his tally seven minutes before the break, chopping past Panagiotis Retsos and rifling a clinical strike into the bottom-left corner off debutant Dro Fernandez's set-up.
Olympiacos finally broke through in the 53rd minute, with Ayoub El Kaabi converting from 12 yards after his initial goal had been ruled out for a foul by Eric Garcia and an offside in the build-up.
The Greek side's hopes of a comeback were short-lived, though, as Santiago Hezze was controversially sent off for a second booking just four minutes later due to a raised arm.
Barcelona capitalised on the advantage immediately as Marcus Rashford was felled in the box by goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis, with Yamal coolly slotting home straight down the middle to restore Barca's two-goal cushion.
The floodgates then opened, with three goals in the space of five minutes for the Blaugrana. Rashford beat Tzolakis at the near post in the 74th minute before Fermin completed his maiden career hat-trick just two minutes later, striking a powerful volley into the bottom-right corner.
Rashford added his second 79 minutes in, beating Tzolakis at the near post once again with a drilled, low finish from distance.
The emphatic win lifts Barcelona to third in the Champions League standings, while Olympiacos remain in 32nd, level on points with Kairat Almaty following their goalless draw against Pafos FC.
Barcelona has now found the net in 23 consecutive Champions League matches, scoring a total of 64 goals during that run.
It has scored six goals in a European competition game for the first time since the second leg of the round of 16 in March 2017 against Paris Saint-Germain (6-1).
Barca was led by Fermin's stellar performance; he has become the first Spanish player to score a hat-trick for the Blaugrana in the history of the Champions League.
