It seems as though Barcelona finally have a project that looks solid.
Hansi Flick has made a good start to the season by winning his first four games but he has not simply guided his team to uncomplicated victories. Against difficult opponents like Athletic Club or Valencia at the Mestalla, Barcelona have shown superiority — and against a more accommodating opponent in Valladolid, they ran them over at Montjuic on Saturday afternoon.
Flick’s side won 7-0 in a match that put a smile back on the faces of their fans and the squad courtesy of a hat-trick from Raphinha and goals from Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres.
The last time Barca achieved such a result in La Liga was in March 2014 against Osasuna.
Barcelona’s good moment has surprised many due to a summer of austere signings and the club’s situation last season, and contrasts with a galactic Real Madrid who were to be feared but have had a bad start to the season.
The Athletic’s Laia Cervello Herrero analyses the key talking points from Saturday’s demolition job against Valladolid.
How did Barcelona cope without Marc Bernal?
Marc Bernal was struggling to find his seat in the stands, moving with all of the agility that his crutches allowed him while Thiago Alcántara helped him.
Just 17 years old, with three official games with the first team and still a member of the reserve team — despite all this, the midfielder’s anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that he suffered against Rayo Vallecano in midweek came as a bitter blow to Barcelona and their fans.
How will Bernal’s absence be made up for after the teenager started in the first three games of the season? It was one of the most repeated questions in the pre-match press conference.
“We will replace him with the team we already have and that’s good enough for me,” Flick replied. An answer as simple as it is obvious.
Flick’s solution was to select Marc Casado as a defensive pivot. Casado and Bernal played together in a double pivot that worked very well in pre-season, and it seemed likely that the 20-year-old would be the one given game time in La Liga from the off due as he had more time in the first-team dynamic under his belt.
Bernal was still very young and in a process of growing up physically. In fact, in the last year, he has grown a few centimetres in height. However, since the start of the season, Bernal seemed to be Flick’s favourite option in that position.
Against Valladolid, his replacement Casado was focussed on defensive duties and connected well with his two midfield colleagues Pedri and Dani Olmo — Bernal contributed to one of Barcelona’s best midfield displays so far this season.
The midfield was well-functioning, created many chances, and was reminiscent of the kind of Barca side of days past that seemed to have been forgotten.
Flick shares a hug with Marc Casado, who replaced the injured Marc Bernal (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Raphinha and Kounde’s redemption story hits new heights
Raphinha touched the ball after scoring his third goal against Valladolid and the whole stadium roared: “Captain, captain” — a scene unthinkable a few months ago when criticism was raining down on the Brazilian.
He finished the match with a hat-trick and an assist for Ferran Torres, and it seemed that he was even embarrassed to show the ball that accredited him as the author of those three goals when he did a flash interview after the game.
Another scorer of one of Barca’s seven goals was Jules Kounde, who reacted quickest to a loose ball in the box following a corner and shot home.
Kounde and Raphinha are examples of how the tables can turn if you put in the work.
In the middle of last season, many were calling for their departure from the club. Some fans believed that they were not up to the level of the club and that their performance was unworthy of a club like Barca.
They did not respond to the criticism directly and from silence, they changed everyone’s mind.
Defender Jules Kounde celebrates getting on the scoresheet against Valladolid (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
Both have something in common: they are playing in positions that are not their natural ones. Kounde has been a centre-back and for years he has publicly and privately asked to play in that position, while, for reasons of need and performance, he has always been put at right-back in a Barcelona shirt.
Raphinha, meanwhile, waited for his chance to start on the right wing wheile Ousmane Dembele was at the club. Dembele left and it seemed that position was available for the Brazilian. But then a kid from the youth academy called Lamine Yamal came along.
When Raphinha got injured, the Yamal’s good performances made it clear that he was going to be a pillar in the team for seasons to come. A star was born and nothing was going to stop it. Raphinha saw his place taken away from him by a 16-year-old but he accepted it sportingly, kept working, and looked to adapt to other positions to remain fit for the job.
Since receiving criticism, work and attitude have been Kounde and Raphinha’s responses. If the Frenchman was going to play at full-back, he would. If the Brazilian was going to play on the left, in midfield or wherever else, he would do it too.
Now both are being treated as heroes at the club. They have turned the tables completely to the point where Raphinha has been elected one of the four captains of Flick’s team. Both are enjoying their best relationship with the fans, who cheer them every time they touch the ball, so far.
Dani Olmo shines on his first start
Dani Olmo was Barcelona’s only signing — apart from Pau Victor, who was on loan at Barça Atletic from Girona last season — during a stringent summer.
The Spain international could have felt the pressure of having all the spotlight on him and yet he has adapted very quickly to the team and delivered immediate results. Not surprisingly, as he is a product of La Masia, but he was away for many years before returning home.
“I know Dani Olmo very well. He is a fantastic player,” Flick said after the game. “He is incredible in midfield. What he does with Pedri gives us a great balance. We need them both for the transition from defence to attack.
Summer signing Dani Olmo impressed (Manaure Quintero/AFP via Getty Images)
Olmo formed an unused midfield alongside Pedri, whom he replaced in the starting XI at the Euros with Spain. Both helped Casado and Olmo also showed great complicity with Robert Lewandowski. They understand each other very well and it is no coincidence that Olmo and Pedri’s partnership coincides with the great performance of the Polish striker, who scored Barcelona’s second of the afternoon.
Olmo helped to move the team, made them more attacking, and on another day, could have scored more than one goal. He put the ball into the net early on but that was disallowed for offside and crashed two balls against the post.
The Spaniard smiles as he celebrates his goals, pointing to the clock as if to say: ‘it was time to go back home’.
What’s next for Barcelona?
September 14-15 (date and time to be announced): Girona (A), La Liga.
(Top photo: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
