It was only a matter of time before the goal arrived and Thiago obliged with a smart left foot shot into the corner of the Villarreal net after 25 minutes.

Giuseppe Rossi, who had been close to joining Barca over the summer, drew a fine save from Victor Valdes with time running out in the first half, before Cesc doubled Barca's lead, dribbling round Lopez following a fine pass from Messi.

Any lingering doubts about who would take the points were ended two minutes into the second half when Alexis Sanchez, who was also making his debut, scored following a Tiago pass.

From that moment it was a question of how many goals Barca would score: Messi got on the scoresheet after 53 minutes after good work from Iniesta and he scored again with 15 minutes remaining, with Tiago again giving the final pass.

The result was the perfect reply to Real Madrid who won 6-0 in Zaragoza on Sunday night, but the fact that Barca won so easily against the side that finished last season comfortably in fourth place in the league, does little to lift the feeling that once again the Spanish league is going to be a two-horse race.

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