Barcelona vs Oviedo, 3:0
Yamal reached his 100th career goal contribution against Oviedo.
Yesterday, Real Madrid defeated Villarreal away and, in doing so, took the lead in La Liga. To reclaim that position, Barcelona would be forced to break down the bottom team in La Liga at Camp Nou, Oviedo. At this point (20 matches), Oviedo has only managed to score 11 times, as they have at the end of 21 matches (still 11). However, they did manage to concede many more than the 11 goals they have allowed previously. Though the favorites played well in the second half, they did not do much of anything in the first half until the very end of the 45 minutes.
Cancelo First Game Since Coming Back
Cancelo started for the first time since returning to Barcelona. The broadcasters in Spain apparently weren’t prepared for that to happen — as they displayed a black character silhouette in place of the player’s name when displaying the lineup, similar to how characters are displayed in older video games “not unlocked yet.” Additionally, Cancelo played on the left wing and Eric Garcia replaced Kounde at right back.
High Press, Heavy Duels and Yellows Early
Lamine Yamal – fcbarcelona.com
Oviedo came out swinging hard and gave Barca fits immediately: intense pressure, numerous battles, even earned a yellow card on Martin before the 20th minute. The two teams together committed nine fouls by the 20th minute and 17 by the half-time mark. However, both teams collectively created almost zero quality opportunities on goal, .01 xG total through nearly a third of the game — at that point I would have liked to say hello to anyone who enjoys betting on totals.
No Spark Without Pedri
With Pedri missing from the midfield, Barca lacked creativity. In the first half, the best chance Barca had on goal was on the final kick of the first half: Raphinha volleyed a shot on goal in the near post area, which was stopped by Escandel in the 44th minute. The wings also didn’t shine today.
The best moment in the first half belonged to the referee Munuera: Escandel claimed the ball inside the box and the referee claimed the ball was outside the box. As Escandel lost control of the ball on the poor decision, he received a yellow card for dissent.
Total Dominance in Second Half
Raphinha – fcbarcelona.com
Flick made some changes to the team at the half including replacing Martin with Kounde and moving Garcia to center back. It wasn’t the substitutions that changed the game — it was how Flick pumped up the entire team. That’s when the beat-down began.
On 51 minutes of the game high press paid off for the first goal. After Colombatto cleared the ball, Yamal won it back right in front of his own goal. Raphinha quickly picked up the rebound and laid it off to Lamine. Unselfishly, Lamine sent it across to Olmo for the finish.
Just five minutes later Raphinha did it all himself. After Kostas passed the ball back to Escandel a little soft, Raphinha robbed him and punished them with an incredible dive. Pure self destruction from Oviedo — you can’t play it out from the back that poorly against Barcelona.
Lamine Got His Moment
Earlier in the game, Lamine almost scored: quick corner with Olmo, trademark step overs to shake Colombatto, broke into the box and curled it towards the far corner. Escandel ruined the celebration. However, there was no need to worry — Lamine was rewarded with his moment. What a piece of art he produced! He leapt for Olmo’s long ball and smacked a beautiful diving volley into the net. By the way, that’s his 100th career goal contribution. The young man is 18 and a half years old.
In the last 30 minutes of the game, Flick substituted in Balde and Fermin. Later he brought on Bernal and Barge. The score remained unchanged after those subs. Crazy difference in the two halves: in the first half, Barca looked asleep; in the second half, they turned it on and destroyed. The Catalans have enough class: no need to try to create something from the whistle — just flip the switch at around the 51st minute, and all three goals were scored within that time frame. They now have a solid lead over Real again.
