Barcelona coach Luis Enrique conceded the 5-0 scoreline flattered his side as they came comfortably through their first LaLiga match without the injured Lionel Messi against Sporting Gijon.
Messi is set to be out for three weeks after he limped off with an adductor injury in Wednesday's draw at home to Atletico Madrid but Luis Suarez and Neymar were both on target, with the Brazilian netting twice.
However, Sporting were only 2-0 down and matching Barcelona when Alberto Lora was sent off in the 74th minute. The home side seemed to lose their way and three goals in six minutes from the 82nd minute onwards put a gloss on the victory which Luis Enrique admitted was probably more than his team's overall performance merited.
He told Diario Sport: "The result is misleading, 5-0 looks simple and easy, but nothing could be further from the reality.
"The game was not a true 5-0, it was much tighter than that. At 2-0 Sporting made us suffer and a goal from them then would have complicated the game.
"The sending-off unbalanced the match."
Luis Suarez scored Barca's first in the 29th minute as he raced on to a long ball over the top of the Sporting defence, took the ball around Pichu Cuellar and tucked it in. Three minutes later Rafinha added a second, meeting Sergi Roberto's cross from the right with a diving header at the near post.
They did not score again until the 82nd minute and Roberto was again the instigator, his ball finding substitute Paco Alcacer whose shot was tipped against the crossbar by Cuellar and Neymar was on hand to poke home the rebound.
Roberto also crossed for Arda Turan to head in the fourth and Neymar completed the scoring in the 88th minute as he slotted home from Denis Suarez's through-ball.
Luis Enrique singled out Roberto for praise after the game, saying: "I do not see anyone better for us on the right side than Sergi Roberto. He plays very well for us between the lines and he brings many resources to the team."
Sporting coach Abelardo Fernandez, a former team-mate of Luis Enrique's at Barcelona in the 1990s, also felt the match was far closer than the scoreline suggested.
"It's difficult to be too excited when you lose 5-0, but I think we played a good match," he told Diario Sport.
"We pressed up and did not give them time to think from the beginning, and their first goal was the first time they had knocked on our door.
"We came out after half-time recharged and played a very good, fluent 25 minutes, albeit without creating any chances. But our heads went down after Lora was sent off and that lets a team like Barcelona get all over you."
Source: PA-WIRE
