Catalan Derby: Barcelona raze Girona 4-1

Barcelona faced Girona in a Catalan clash yesterday, right after the end of the international break, and the result was pure revenge from the men in black. In the 23/24 season, Girona defeated Barcelona both times the team locked horns, with the same score line of 4-2. This season, Barcelona were ready to avenge Xavi's losses.

The difference between Barcelona's playstyle from last year was clearly visible, with this year the team playing more confident and offensive, while at the same time maintaining possession and giving Girona no chance to score.

The deadlock was broken by Lamine Yamal during the 30th minute, who exploited the opposite defender's poor ball control to regain possession and score a clean goal. This wasn't enough for the 17-year-old. He struck again just 7 minutes after from a freekick delivered into the box to score a sensational banger.

A bizarre event took place as Girona were awarded an alleged penalty because of a handball by Iñigo Martínez during the 44th minute. A bit of arguing took place between the players and the referee, who even placed the ball on the penalty spot. However, captain ter Stegen asked the referee to check VAR. Thankfully, this penalty was indeed ruled out by VAR. This was because the handball happened in the first place as Alejandro Balde headed the ball, which touched Martínez's arm as he was jumping. Not only was that the natural position of the hand, but also it was headed by his teammate, which doesn't make the handball intentional. However, if the ball was headed by Girona's player, it would've resulted in a penalty.

Next, it was time for the 23-year-old EURO Winner to leave his mark right after half time during the 47th minute; Dani Olmo scored a crazy goal from the right side of the penalty box, thanks to a wonderful long ball from Jules Koundé. The Spaniard has now registered 3 goals in 3 games, becoming the third Barcelona player in this century to score in the first three league games. The two others being Zlatan Ibrahimović and Cesc Fabregas. About 20 minutes later, Dani Olmo was unfortunately taken off due to suspected injury. But thankfully, after the game, it was confirmed that Olmo hadn't faced any injury.

The game against Girona marked Robert Lewandowski's 100th game for Barcelona. We have to thank ex sporting director Alemany for signing this world class striker, who has proven clinical for the Blaugrana at times. At the 55th minute, the Polish striker had a chance to net in a goal, but was denied twice by Girona's goalkeeper.

In the 57th minute, Lamine Yamal could've completed his hat-trick, if it weren't for a save by the opposition's goalkeeper.

To make this game even better, young midfield maestro Pedri scored a wonderful goal during the 64th minute to make it 4, with a cheeky run into the box, as fellow midfielder Marc Casado served a genius through ball to facilitate the goal for Pedri.

However, a few twists started to occur. During the 80th minute, goalkeeper ter Stegen went forward in an attempt to collect the ball and dismiss Girona's attack, but unfortunately, right winger Portu managed to bypass the German shot stopper and pass it into an empty goal post, where Girona's Cristhian Stuani managed to slot one in. This didn't mean much, as the match was approaching end game and this was more or less a consolation goal. This only implication this had was that ter Stegen lost his clean sheet. Nevertheless, an impressive performance from the Blaugrane captain.

The next twist was that Ferran Torres, who was substituted in for Robert Lewandowski, made an awful challenge on Girona's Yaser Asprilla, and was sent off with a direct red. That was an unnecessary foul by the 24-year-old, who was upset after the game, and even made a public apology.

The stats speak for themselves, as Barcelona did an excellent job to dominate Girona in their own stadium. Not only were they hammered 4-1, but they also were only able to register 9 shots, whereas Barcelona registered 20 shots. The Blaugrana also maintained the greater possession, with 56% and passes, being 476. Girona were playing what football fans call "terror ball", as the home side committed 13 fouls, whereas Barcelona only committed 4. Ironically, Barcelona received a red card with their fourth foul. Also as a matter of fact, no Barcelona player was caught offside, but Girona were caught offside 7 times. Barcelona even had the advantage in corners, having the advantage of 6 to 1.

Definitely, Barcelona could have scored way more goals. The attack had many chances to capitalize on, and could have well scored at least 6 or 7 goals. In fact, of the 20 shots registered by Barcelona, only 9 were on target, of those, only 4 happened to be goals. Regardless, the team played well, and that has to be appreciated.

Barcelona played extremely well, so much so that Girona's coach, Michel, admitted during the post-match interview that Barcelona were better than them.

🎙️| Michel: “Barcelona was great, much better than us. They outplayed us and didn’t give us a chance.”

🎙️| Michel: “The penalty for us? I don’t feel harmed... Today Barça has shown us that we are far from their level.”

🎙️| Michel: “Barça were far superior than us.”

Lamine Yamal was applauded by Girona's fans, as he was taken off in the 91st minute and replaced by Gerard Martín. The 17-year-old was also named the Most Valuable Player of the match, scoring two goals, and playing extremely well. Coincidentally, Lionel Messi also scored two goals yesterday, and won the MVP award.

At the end, Barcelona have secured the three points to continue their lead at the top of the table. With this game, Barcelona have completed 5 games with 5 wins, securing 15 points, scoring 17 goals and conceding just 4. This is a dream start for the Blaugrana's 24/25 La Liga campaign, and Hansi Flick has shown incredible changes to the team. This has been Barcelona's strongest team in the near past, and many wonder, if this team could give Barcelona's their well deserved invincibles run. There's a good chance that this team could in fact make Barcelona invincible in La Liga, and bring some silverware back to the Camp Nou.