Back when the week started, if anyone had told an FC Barcelona fan that their team would have a net score of 8-1 against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, they might have been laughed out. As much as all the fans wanted performances like this, not even in the wildest of dreams did it seem possible.
However, Barcelona followed up Bayern’s 4-1 trashing with something even better, a 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid. Galacticos. Kylian Mbappe. Jude Bellingham. Vinicius Jr. Who? Money doesn’t win you things in football and this is yet another example.
A brace from Robert Lewandowski and goals from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha helped Hansi Flick’s team humiliate Los Blancos in front of their home crowd. Inaki Pena also turned out clutch with his incredible display of shot-stopping last night.
With all this in mind, we at Barca News Network bring to you three talking points for Barcelona from their 4-1 dismantling of Real Madrid in La Liga.
1: Lewan’COLD’skiii
Lewandowski?? LewanGOALski? LewanCOLDski!! The biggest disappointment in the night is that the Polish striker didn’t walk away from the game with a poker against his name. Scoring four goals against Real Madrid is not everyone’s cup of tea but had he done it, it wouldn’t be the first time for the 36-year-old.
We are not sure there has ever been a turnaround of this sort by a 36-year-old in the history of the game. Robert Lewandowski this season looks like he has grown younger by 10 years and is almost in the same form as he was back in 2020.
The Pole looks razor-sharp in front of the goal and his hold-up play is constantly on an upward trajectory. If only Lamine had finished his chance in the first half, Lewandowski would have also had the assist of the season against his name.
With 14 goals already in La Liga so far this season, Lewandowski is outscoring Erling Haaland and looks to be a serious contender to be Europe’s top goalscorer. One can only hope he maintains this form throughout the season.
2: Barcelona’s 12th man?
At this point, a case can be made for the offside trap being Barcelona’s 12th man during games. How incredibly Hansi Flick’s team holds the high line is quite incredible, especially with a 33-year-old Inigo Martinez in defense.
Ahead of the game, there was a lot of talk about how successful Barcelona’s high line would work against a pacy front line of Real Madrid and Hansi Flick even made it clear that it was his team’s philosophy and that they would live or die by it.
Barcelona caught Real Madrid offside 12 times during the game and the high-line was on full show. Kylian Mbappe will have nightmares of the linesman raising the flag for months to come, considering just how many times he found himself in such a situation.
Hansi Flick is a master of the art of the offside trap and has shown that it works beautifully even against big teams. Most times, Barcelona use the halfway line as the reference and although this could result in goals at times, it is a tactic that will only get better with time.
3: Inaki Pena steps up… BIG TIME!!
There has been so much chatter about the goalkeeping position at Barcelona and if Inaki Pena deserves to start. The La Masia graduate has struggled to fill the shoes of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen but last night’s display should make him feel so much better.
The 25-year-old came up with one of the most astonishing saves ever to deny Jude Bellingham from scoring. Little did he know that Mbappe was offside and had the ball gone over the line, the goal would have not have stood. However, this moment set the tone for the rest of the game.
Wojciech Szczęsny is now at the club and there were a lot of talks for the former Juventus shot-stopper to replace Pena in the starting XI. However, Hansi Flick decided to persist with the Spanish goalkeeper and has been vindicated in his decision.
Pena also made a number of solid saves throughout the game, some offside and some not. The 25-year-old will feel very confident going forward and let’s hope this emerges as a turning point in his career.
