Led by Dani Olmo, author of a double, FC Barcelona defeated its neighbor Espanyol 3-1, this Sunday in the derby that attracted the attention of the 12th day of the Spanish League, marked by the numerous tributes to the victims of the This week’s floods in the country.
Two matches that were to be played on Saturday in the Valencia region, the epicenter of a tragedy that has caused the death of 217 people according to the latest official report, were postponed. One of them was Real Madrid (2nd) in the Valencia field and Carlo Ancelotti’s men now see Barça escape with a 9-point lead.
Olmo was the star of the afternoon at the Montjuic Olympic stadium. It was his first game as a starter since the thigh injury he suffered in mid-September and he opened the scoring in the 12th minute, taking advantage of an exquisite pass with the outside of the foot of young Lamine Yamal.
With a shot from the top of the area, Olmo then put the third on the scoreboard, in the 31st minute. Before that, Raphinha confirmed his great start to the season by scoring in the 23rd minute, after an assist from Marc Casadó, and the Brazilian now signs seven goals in this League.
With those three goals before the break, Hansi Flick’s men relaxed and Espanyol, who had previously seen two goals disallowed (28, 58) due to offside, cut their deficit to 3-1 in the 63rd minute, medium by Javi Puado.
The scoreboard no longer moved and the derby went to a Barça that seems unstoppable this season in the League, with eleven wins in twelve games, and that has already begun to think about its visit to Red Star on Wednesday in the Champions League. Real Madrid, with one less game played, follows from a distance of nine points.
“The match should not have been played. From here we can only send encouragement to all the people affected and hope that there are more people who can continue helping. It has been a very big tragedy,” Olmo declared to DAZN at the end of the match, joining the numerous voices that disagreed that Spanish football had not stopped completely after the midweek floods.
Espanyol, for its part, remains in the lower zone. It is seventeenth, just one point above the relegation zone.
Before the derby there was a memorial to the flood victims with a minute of silence, as in all Spanish professional football stadiums this weekend. Barcelona also announced that its players’ shirts will be auctioned to raise funds that will go to those affected by the catastrophe.
There were also memories of the flood victims in another of Sunday’s important matches, in which Atlético de Madrid climbed onto the podium (3rd), moving within one point of second place Real Madrid, by winning 2-0 in home to Las Palmas (18th).
The Atlético players dedicated the goals to the victims, showing a team t-shirt that read in Valencian “Força i ànims” (Strength and courage). Before, they had gone out onto the field with banners from two fan clubs from Paiporta and Utiel, two of the most affected Valencian towns.
In strictly sporting terms, the ‘colchoneros’ goals were scored by the Argentine attacker Giuliano Simeone (37), assisted by his compatriot Nahuel Molina, and by the Norwegian Alexander Sorloth, who had started as a substitute and sealed the match in the 84th minute.
“I see Giuliano as a football player, nothing more. Having him on the team does not create any different situation for me,” said Atlético coach Diego Simeone about his son Giuliano’s goal.
The victory has an important emotional value for Atlético before visiting Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. The two teams have had disappointing results at the start of the European tournament and their fight is crucial for both.
ati/dr/iga
