Putellas gone? Bonmati injured? It won't stop Barcelona, who just trounced Real Madrid

BARCELONA -- Led by the clinical Clàudia Pina, who scored four goals in an incredible first half, Barcelona humiliated Real Madrid at Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday, racking up a 7-0 victory in Liga F to continue their Clásico domination. Caroline Graham Hansen, Ewa Pajor and Sydney Schertenleib were also on target as Barça made it six wins from six in the league this season. Barça are now five points clear of Madrid at the top of the table, but more importantly demonstrated that it is very much business as usual despite a summer of upheaval which saw two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas depart along with Mapi León, Ona Batlle and Salma Paralluelo. "Spectacular," Pina said after the game. "This team leaves me without words. This is what we work for. It's been a difficult start to the season, but we made a statement today. Barça will always be Barça. We will keep going in the exact same manner." It may seem exaggerated in the aftermath of a victory like this, but those summer exits had raised questions. How would Barça move on without some of the stalwarts of the side which has won seven successive Liga F titles and four Champions Leagues? Not least because most of the replacements have largely come from within. Young Dutch defender Renee van Asten was the only new face starting against Madrid. The team's biggest summer arrival, Brazil international Kerolin, was only on the bench, alongside Aitana Bonmatí, who is still working her way back cautiously from a leg break last season. There was also change at Madrid this summer. They lost some key players, including Caroline Weir, but invested in the squad elsewhere. Four new signings started here: Elisa Senß, Andreia Jacinto, Arianna Caruso and Felicia Schröder, who joined in a club-record deal worth over €1 million and has already netted eight goals in all competitions this season. All of those factors helped shape the narrative heading into Sunday's game. It is not necessarily a new narrative -- there has been a wait for Madrid to close the gap on Barça. It looked like they were bridging it in the spring of 2025, when they beat Barça for the first and only time at the Olympic Stadium to, briefly, keep the title race alive. They subsequently lost all five meetings last season, but, a new campaign and new signings once again brought renewed hope. After making an unbeaten start to the season -- including encouraging Champions League draws against Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City -- and with Schröder, flanked by Linda Caicedo, firing, why couldn't they do something against a Barça side without Bonmatí, Kerolin, Putellas, León, Batlle or Paralluelo? Barça's players are not ignorant to the narrative. It has been the same for a couple of years, not just in games against Madrid, as the Catalan club have been forced to balance the books. Graham Hansen referenced it after they won last year's Champions League -- completing a second quadruple in three years -- as motivation for the players to keep proving people wrong. Their motivation was clear from the off on Sunday. The match had been delayed two hours because of storms in Catalonia over the weekend. By the time kick off arrived, the torrential rain was replaced by a deluge of goals. It took just four minutes for Pina to open the scoring, Madrid's defenders like statues in their own box, and the game would be over by half-time. It may have been the best 45 minutes Pina has ever played as she became the first woman to score four times in a Clásico. The 25-year-old has been on the brink of breaking into the game's superstar-tier for a few years but not quite tipped over the edge. She may get there this season. After a personal best 21 Liga F goals last term, she came into this fixture with five -- tied with Madrid's Schröder as the league's top scorer -- and almost doubled that tally in one half. Pina's second goal came in the 28th minute and was the start of a flurry of three goals in five minutes. She completed her hat-trick in the 32nd minute and then, a minute later, Graham Hansen ghosted past more statutory Madrid defenders to add Barça's fourth. There was still time for a fifth before the break, Pina adding her fourth. "What a special day," she grinned at full time. "I will keep the match ball at home." Only the mercy of coach Pere Romeu spared Madrid conceding more goals from the red hot forward. She was withdrawn early in the second half, as was Graham Hansen, with Bonmatí and Kerolin given playing time in front of the 40,533 crowd. There was still time for a couple more goals, although not the 10 some demanding supporters were crying out for. Pajor added Barça's sixth and Schertenleib completed the rout with a rocket from outside the box late in the game. Madrid will plead time for the new signings to settle in. There have been promising signs under coach Pau Quesada but Barça remain his, and Madrid's, kryptonite. Results like this feel like a major setback. That is now 24 times Madrid have lost to Barça -- that solitary win in 2025 feeling further and further away -- but this one that will be especially tough to take. They cannot be expected to beat Barça, but the circumstances heading into this match did not point to a seven-goal demolition. Barça, on the other hand, flexed their muscles once again. They showed that their trust in their philosophy can keep them at the top of the game. Academy graduates Clara Serrajordi and Aïcha Cámara have seamlessly slotted into the team, while the club have recruited well. Van Asten, Sydney Schertenleib and Esmee Brugts are all examples of young players picked up smartly. They are also examples of how quickly football moves on. Despite a summer of change at Barça, there are some things that never change.