FC Barcelona get their La Liga campaign off to a winning start with the 2-1 win over Valencia at the Mestalla. Not everything was plain sailing for Hansi Flick’s team as they conceded first and had to perform a mini remontada to win the game.
While it is important to get the three points on board, there are lots of positives and negatives to take from Barcelona’s performance. The first 25 minutes from Flick’s team were disastrous, to say the least, but things certainly improved.
Lamine Yamal picked up from where he left off last season dazzling the Mestalla with his quick feet and dribbling skills. The 17-year-old is coming off a very different week with what happened to his father and would understandably have been emotional.
There were a few uncharacteristic moments of lapse of concentration with Flick even seen talking to him during the first-half cooling break. However, being the player that he is, he still stepped up with the crucial assist to Lewandowski’s first goal at the stroke of halftime. The German coach even highlighted the player’s versatile nature after the game.
When he was substituted towards the end of the game, Mestalla stood up to give the rising ‘fantastic’ Spanish star a rousing ovation. Flick was quizzed about this post-match and here is what the Barcelona coach had to say, as quoted by SPORT:
“He is a fantastic player. I was not surprised that he was applauded at Mestalla. He is a great player and everyone likes a player like that. And therefore it is normal to be applauded.”
It was a great gesture from the crowd and Yamal would have felt good going off. Judging by how the 17-year-old is progressing, you cannot put it past him to receive many more standing ovations during away games.
At such a young age, he is already one of Hansi Flick’s main players who considers him a ‘fantastic’ player. His teammates keep looking out for him on the pitch. More often than not, Yamal doesn’t let them down with his decision-making, be it a pass or taking a shot.
Last night’s performance wasn’t Yamal’s best in a Barcelona shirt but such is the bar he has set for himself in his short career so far. Fans will be eager to see the 17-year-old take to the field against Athletic Bilbao next weekend and let’s see how it goes.
