FC Barcelona, led by their Spanish European champions Lamine Yamal, who scored twice, Dani Olmo and Pedri, recorded a fifth victory in five games on Sunday by beating Girona (4-1) in the Catalan derby and retaining the lead in the championship.
The Blaugrana club, still undefeated and first in La Liga with 15 points and 17 goals in five games, will travel to Monaco on Thursday full of confidence for the first day of the Champions League, while Girona (7th, 7 points) will go to Paris on Wednesday without certainty for its big debut in the European Cup.
Catalan prodigy Lamine Yamal, 17, got his team off to a perfect start with a double in seven minutes, first by stealing the ball between the feet of defender David Lopez to beat opposing goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga (30th, 1-0) then by placing a perfect left-footed shot after a poorly blocked free kick (37th, 2-0).
The second and third goals of the season for the Spanish European champion, decisive in every match since the start of the season (3 goals, 4 assists in 5 games) and well on his way to winning the Golden Boy trophy, rewarding the best hope in world football.
Girona, much less attractive than last season, notably due to the loss of its three best players Artem Dovbyk (AS Roma), Aleix Garcia (Bayer Leverkusen) and Savinho (Manchester City), could have reduced the score at the end of the first half but the penalty awarded to the home team for an involuntary handball by Inigo Martinez was finally cancelled after viewing the video (44th).
After the break, it was Barcelona’s summer signing Dani Olmo who widened the gap with a half-volley from a tight angle on a superb pass from former Rennes player Raphinha (47th, 3-0). His third goal in three professional matches with his training club, which he returned to this summer after more than ten years between Dinamo Zagreb and RB Leipzig.
Pedri, his teammate in the national team, joined in the celebrations (64th, 4-0) to cap off another convincing collective performance from Hansi Flick’s men, even if Girona ended up saving face at the end of the game through its Uruguayan veteran Cristhian Stuani, 37 (80th, 4-1).
Barça finished the match with ten men after the logical exclusion of Ferran Torres, who came on a few minutes earlier (86th minute), scoring a goal.
– Choc Atlético-Valence –
Earlier in the afternoon, Celta Vigo (4th, 9 points) confirmed their good start to the season by logically winning (3-1) at home against promoted Valladolid (17th, 4 points), thanks in particular to a new goal from Spanish striker Borja Iglesias.
This fifth day continues in the evening with the trip of Athletic Bilbao of the Williams brothers to Las Palmas (6:30 p.m.) and the clash between Atlético Madrid, another future opponent of PSG, and Valencia (9 p.m.) at the Metropolitano.
and/chc
