Barcelona scores four goals in opening 24 minutes and overwhelms Valencia 7-1 in Spanish league

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona got back on track in the Spanish league by overwhelming Valencia on Sunday with four different players scoring in the first 24 minutes of a 7-1 rout.

Frenkie de Jong opened the scoring in the third minute, Ferran Torres added to the lead in the eighth, Raphinha found the net in the 14th and Fermín López struck in the 24th at Montjuic stadium.

López added the fifth in first-half stoppage time as Barcelona ended the first half with a 5-0 lead.

Valencia got its goal with Hugo Duro in the 59th before Barcelona scored again with Robert Lewandowski in the 66th and an own-goal by César Tárrega in the 75th.

The victory moved Barcelona within three points of second-placed Atletico Madrid and seven points off leader Real Madrid, which won 3-0 at Valladolid on Saturday with a hat trick by Kylian Mbappé. Atletico was held 1-1 by Villarreal on Saturday.

“We hadn't been doing well in the league and we needed to bounce back with a victory like that,” López said. “We have to keep fighting.”

Barcelona was coming off victories in the Champions League, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, but had been winless in its last four league games.

Hansi Flick became the second-fastest coach to reach 100 goals with Barcelona, which has now scored 101 goals in 32 games in all competitions under the German. Helenio Herrera reached the mark in 31 matches in the 1950s.

Luis Enrique and Tito Vilanova each needed 34 games to reach the 100 mark, three quicker than Pep Guardiola at 37 matches.

Barcelona has scored five goals or more in four of its last five games across all competitions. It was coming off a 5-4 win over Benfica in the Champions League, and beat Real Betis 5-1 in the Copa del Rey and Real Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup.

Valencia is 19th in the 20-team standings. The club had the return of defender Mouctar Diakhaby 11 months after he sustained a serious knee injury.

“The only positive from this game was the return of Diakhaby,” Valencia coach Carlos Corberán said. “We all know how important he is for us.”

Midtable Real Sociedad fell 3-0 at home against 14th-placed Getafe, losing for the third time in a row across all competitions.

Randy Nteka scored in the 80th and 83rd minutes as seventh-placed Rayo Vallecano came from behind to beat eighth-placed Girona 2-1.

Fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao was held to a 0-0 home draw against struggling Leganes.

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Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, right, scores his side's sixth goal past Valencia's goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal walks during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring his side's sixth goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, right, scores his side's sixth goal past Valencia's goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Fermin Lopez, left, celebrates with Frenkie de Jong after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Fermin Lopez celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, centre, and Valencia's Pepelu, centre right, challenge for the ball during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

Barcelona's Raphinha celebrates after Fermin Lopez, not in the picture, scored his side's fifth goal during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Valencia at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)