Barça, increasingly recognizable as Flick’s team every day, gave a very good match to a devoted Camp Nou, very attentive to football due to the affront of an Athletic still in formation, redeemed in any case by the lack of finishing from Gordon, Fermín, and Lamine, and the repertoire of saves by Unai Simón. Although the victory was taken for granted from Raphinha’s goal, the player acting as a striker who had already scored two goals in Elche, the blaugranas appreciated a gift from Laporte, facing his own goal and taken advantage of by Fermín, which meant the definitive 2-0.
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Barcelona did not have the efficiency of Elche after maturing a very intense match, a major challenge, conditioned by a colorful and harmonious symbolic charge due to the incidents in Elche. Sunday’s episode caused the cancellation of the tribute to the world champions and the display of estelades, the independentist flag that since the times of the procés has in many cases replaced the senyeras that waved in the seventies, in the full 75th anniversary of FC Barcelona. The moment lasted as long as the anthem sounded in full communion with a Camp Nou expectant of the reunion with their Barça.
To the sprinters from Elche, protagonists of a match as vertical as effective, Flick added players with very good footwork fundamental to marking the timing of the match such as Cubarsí and Pedri to face Athletic. The blaugrana team, already committed to recovery, also needs to develop football and control the game, mixing football in space with football at the foot, especially against challenges like the one posed by Athletic, a squad that also shares Flick’s ideology with the arrival of his compatriot Terzic, the coach who took Borussia Dortmund to the 2024 Champions League final.
The courage of the coaches was reflected in the deployment of the two teams, who pushed the pressure line very high, with a high defense, up to the halfway line, so compact that movements were very complicated due to the lack of space, a terrain that fosters inaccuracies and losses or also depth and exquisiteness, virtues that Lamine has, defended by the young Johaneko. Unai Simón prevented the winger’s goal when the match opened up a bit, stirred by Gordon’s stamina and Espart’s subtlety, and also by the threat of the Williams brothers and Sancet, whose arrivals forced Joan García to be very alert.
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The pace increased with Xavi Espart as protagonist, excellent in a cross that Raphinha headed to the post and challenged in a tackle on Nico, who was brought down when facing Barça’s goal. The play ended with a yellow card for Barcelona’s left-back. Fermín’s turns increased the offensive flow and the goal came as soon as Pedri could make the pass for Raphinha’s run. The synchronization was perfect and the Brazilian dodged the goalkeeper to claim his status as a center forward amid the farce with Julián Álvarez. Assisted by Bernal, brilliant in the tackle, Lamine immediately had the 2-0 in a free shot that Unai saved.
The break did not temper Gordon’s dynamism, lacking perhaps a shot, nor did it affect Raphinha’s aggressiveness or the talent of the leader Pedri. The last step, however, resisted: plays did not end well, finishing was not sharp, and the crossbar returned a shot from Lamine, as participative and absorbing as he was denied by Unai. The blaugranas did not rest but bit in Athletic’s field, increasingly far from Joan García’s area. The match demanded more load and Flick took off the exhausted Rafinha and Bernal to bring in Olmo and Rodri amid the Camp Nou’s clamor.
Athletic had little to say except for a shot to the post by Sancet. Harassed in their area, they got confused and Laporte tried to play badly with Unai and caused Fermín’s finish. There was barely any match left to enjoy even though Rodri ruled the pitch. The midfielder helped keep the ball to seal a victory as meritorious as deserved, much to Camp Nou’s liking. The murmur about the lack of a number nine clears up with seven goals for and none against in two league matches.
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