Barcelona made it five wins out of five to start La Liga as they thrashed Girona at Montilivi.
The Blaugrana started out with superb energy and scored twice via two wonderful Lamine Yamal goals in the first-half.
They kicked off the second frame in spectacular fashion with a rocket from Dani Olmo before Pedri completed the scoring.
Stuani (who else?) bagged a consolation for Girona late on, but Barcelona held their nerve to maintain their perfect start to life under Hansi Flick.
Here are the 97 Passes player ratings from that game (watch the video above!)
Starters
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen: 5/10
Panicked the only time Girona truly called him into action and while it didn’t matter to the game, Hansi Flick may be concerned at Ter Stegen’s lack of drive when leaving his line.
Jules Kounde: 8/10
Another rock solid defensive display from a man who has evolved into one of the very best right-backs in the world (can you name anyone better? Maybe Trent Alexander-Arnold, but who else?) His assist for the Dani Olmo goal was sheer beauty.
Pau Cubarsi: 8/10
It seems ridiculous that a 17 year-old is Barcelona’s best centre-back but, well, a 17 year-old is Barcelona’s best centre-back. #CuBaresi is for real and the defence notably got worse once Hansi Flick (rightly) subbed him off.
Iñigo Martinez: 6/10
A good start to the season but Martinez looked a little shaky at Montilivi. He needs to be more wary of how he positions himself because on another day VAR may not have overruled the ridiculous decision to award a penalty for his “handball.”
Alejandro Balde: 7/10
Just super solid and dependable. Can obviously improve but after his injury woes, this is lovely to see. Oodles of potential.
Marc Casado: 8/10
Kept it simple in the middle of the pitch. It’s sensible to wonder how he’ll fare against elite midfields (Bernal will be a big miss) but he handled Girona nicely and his assist for Pedri was a thing of beauty.
Pedri: 8/10
Another dominant display in midfield, just running the show. Looks so physically refreshed under Flick and it’s allowing all his skill to return. Great goal, too.
Dani Olmo: 8/10
The way Olmo finds space between the lines and shifts the ball around quickly is, quite frankly, Gundogan-esque. He’s scored in three straight games and been a stud for his new side, but now he’s out for a month with hamstring trouble. This is the downside of Dani Olmo and why trading him for Gundogan (which is basically what Barça did) without also signing Nico Williams was always a big risk.
Lamine Yamal: 9/10
Lamine Yamal began the season as the second or third best right-winger in the world (depending on how you rate Bukayo Saka) but now after just one month we genuinely have to ask if he’s stepping to Mohamed Salah as the top don.
It seems absurd to say but this 17 year-old wonderkid is frankly absurd in everything he does. Driving, dribbling, creating chances. At Montilivi he added forward pressing and goals to an already absurd catalogue of skills.
The only issue is that he played 91 minutes. Hansi Flick has to be careful with his physical workload because Lamine Yamal is a talent Barcelona fans should be enjoying for the next 15-18 years.
Raphinha: 7/10
Not at the his most devastatingly effective, but still ran his socks off and linked play nicely. He’s taking his role as one of the captains seriously, showing lots of on-pitch leadership and tone-setting.
Robert Lewandowski: 5/10
Made some nice dummy runs but should have scored a couple goals at least. His miss after that back-to-front flowing attack was particularly criminal as that could have been a goal of the season contender.
Subs
Eric Garcia: 5/10
You wonder how he’d handle starting a match (maybe we find out against Monaco?) but he was decent off the bench. That one run forward was very funny.
Hector Fort: 5/10
Solid.
Pau Victor: 5/10
Made some nice runs but ruined them all with terrible shot selection. There’s a player there, but he needs a bit more confidence in front of goal.
Ferran Torres: 3/10
His red card was very harsh but it was still a stupid challenge and his place in the pecking order is set to drop even further now Ansu Fati is back.
Gerard Martin: 5/10
A late sub.
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