Hansi Flick has said Barcelona’s ultimate goal in the Champions League is to qualify for the next round among the eight best teams in the competition — and his side made further progress on that front in Belgrade on Wednesday evening.
The Catalans defeated Red Star 5-2 to climb up to sixth spot in the table with nine points. On top of that, Barca are now the top-scoring team in this season’s competition with 15 goals in four games.
Red Star were able to cancel out Inigo Martinez’s opener, but Robert Lewandowski put Barcelona ahead again just before half-time. Flick clearly had words with his team at half-time and they came out in newly-determined fashion. Within 10 minutes of the second half Barca had scored two more goals, thanks to Lewandowski again and Raphinha, and decisively ended Red Star’s hopes. Fermin Lopez then sealed the night with Barcelona’s fifth.
The Athletic’s Pol Ballus analyses the main talking points from the game.
Lamine Yamal marks a milestone with another fine display
Lamine Yamal played for 90 minutes in Belgrade and, despite not being directly involved in any of the five goals his team scored, he had another impactful performance.
He was one of the most active forwards for Barcelona and it was his intense start of the second half that got Barcelona goig again. The third goal, set up by Kounde and tapped in by Lewandowski, was ignited by a fantastic run by Yamal from the halfway line, gliding his way through three opponents. The fourth goal was also a product of his domination of right flank of the attack.
This was a significant week regarding Yamal’s progress. Last Monday, the teenager reached the exact age Lionel Messi was when he debuted with Barca’s first-team: 17 years and 114 days old.
The difference is that Yamal reached that point having already played 67 games with Barca, providing 13 goals and 17 assists amid an unprecedented rise that sees the teenager as the structural fulcrum of Barcelona’s new project. 17 caps, three goals and the Euro 2024 title with Spain are also significant achievements to add.
Yamal has achieved more than Messi at this stage of their careers, but the 17-year-old’s camp still prefers to avoid comparisons with the Argentinian. “There’s nothing to win there”, they say.
And Jules Kounde is an attacking force too
The 25-year-old made a compelling case on why he is one of the best right-backs in the football world right now.
Kounde is widely known for his defensive capacities, but he excelled on the offensive end in Belgrade — delivering three goal assists in a 23-minute spell in the second half.
Since 2016, only four defenders have managed to register three assists or more in a single Champions League game: Jordi Alba, Achraf Hakimi, Joao Cancelo and now Jules Kounde.
(Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
“He is a good example for the whole team,” said Flick after the game. “Jules is an absolutely professional, on and off the pitch. It has been really good to see tonight that he was able to make the difference in the final third too.”
Two summers ago, Kounde had a private chat with then-manager at Barcelona Xavi. The 25-year-old told him he felt he could unleash his true potential playing as a central defender, rather than as a right-back. But now this thought is a distant memory, because nobody at Barcelona can envisage a better fit for the Frenchman than his current role.
Cubarsi’s 10 stitches and De Jong’s return
Pau Cubarsi had to be substituted in the 67th minute of the game after being found in the wrong end in a collision with Red Star’s Uros Spajic, who accidentally put his foot into Cubarsi’s face.
The 17-year-old fell down as his team-mates urgently asked for medical attention after seeing the had blood on his face. Flick did not want to take any risks and replaced him with the youngster Sergi Dominguez.
After the match, the German manager said that Cubarsi was fine and should be able to return to the team on the weekend, but it was later revealed he needed a fairly painful treatment: 10 stitches in his jaw to heal the wound.
Barcelona posted pictures of the defender on social media, with the stitches visible in his blood-stained yet smiling face.
Another positive outcome of the game was Frenkie de Jong’s return to the starting line-up. The Dutch midfielder had not started a game since last April when he got injured.
“We had a clear plan that week. In the weekend we decided Olmo had to play after returning from injury, tonight it was De Jong’s turn. I’m happy for him to start, it’s also important for the dressing room as he is the captain of the team. He was good, his start arrived at the right time”, said Flick.
In praise of Barcelona’s attacking output
Five goals in Belgrade didn’t only make Flick’s side the top scorers in this season’s Champions League — it also allowed the team to break an all-time Barcelona record.
The Catalans have now scored 55 goals in their first 16 games of the season. This is the best return at this stage of a season in the club history, beating the 54 goals they scored in the same period back in 1950-51.
A big part of that is down to the in-form partnership between Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.
Lewandowski’s brace against Red Star took his all-time Champions League tally up to 99 goals. He will be in place to reach the century in three weeks at home against Brest.
“I did not know about that!” Flick said after the game about Lewandowski’s numbers. “If I had known I probably wouldn’t have subbed him off”, he joked.
Lewandowski is now on 99 Champions League goals – only Ronado and Messi have more (Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images)
Raphinha has already surpassed his best goal tally in a single season with Barcelona — he has scored 12 times, two more than he registered in each of the last two seasons. This campaign, he’s been involved in seven Champions League goals, more than any other player in the competition.
“I am sure the players have the confidence to keep going for the whole season. At the moment it’s not easy to train a lot, we have a lot of matches. But what I have to say is that the team is doing great because they love to play football”, added Flick.
(Header photo: Pedja Milosavljevic/AFP via Getty Images)
