Coming into play in the second half for his first match in his new colours, Spanish attacking midfielder Dani Olmo gave FC Barcelona victory (2-1) on the pitch of Rayo Vallecano on the third day of La Liga.
Recruited for 55 million euros from RB Leipzig, the European champion with La Roja this summer showed his technical quality by delivering a timid Barça with a beautiful left-footed strike in the area (82nd, 2-1) for his first appearance in the professional group after the imbroglio concerning his registration with La Liga.
Still with a far from ideal eleven in the absence of many key players (Araujo, Christensen, Gavi, De Jong), the Blaugrana club, led 1-0 until the hour mark, made the difference in the second half largely thanks to the contribution of its new recruit.
The Catalans had indeed struggled to put their collective game in place and to cope with the intensity of the locals but equalised in the second half thanks to Pedri, well served back by Raphinha (60th, 1-1).
This third success in as many days allows them to take sole control of the standings with nine points, two points ahead of Villarreal and three ahead of Celta Vigo.
Led by their new playmaker, trained at La Masia but who left for Dynamo Zagreb and then Leipzig to shine, Hansi Flick's men put up a great collective reaction and could have turned the match around a little earlier, with Olmo seeing his shot hit the bar (58th), and Robert Lewandowski's liberating goal being disallowed for a slight slip from Jules Koundé (71st).
