Barcelona continued their perfect La Liga start with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Rayo Vallecano — after Dani Olmo’s introduction changed the game.
Rayo were able to control Barca in the opening period and the home side went ahead through Unai Lopez’s finish in the ninth minute.
But the balance of play shifted after Olmo’s introduction at the break. Barcelona’s €60million (£50.5m; $66.8m at current rates) summer signing has had to wait for his debut after issues with his registration. When he finally took to the field, he led the comeback against Rayo.
Pedri scored the equaliser and Robert Lewandowski had a goal disallowed but it was Olmo who, in the 83rd minute of the game, converted a smart low finish inside the box to consolidate Barca’s place at the top of the table. After three matches, they are the only team with nine points.
Let’s dive into the talking points.
Olmo’s dream debut
After all the frustrations, struggles and turnarounds in getting his registration approved, Olmo’s career at Barcelona finally started with a bang.
Olmo had missed the first two games of the season, with Barca were not able to add him to their squad as they were not in compliance with La Liga’s salary limit — a situation that left the player’s camp frustrated. Barca still have problems in that regard, and Olmo only became available to play after Andreas Christensen’s latest injury.
The Danish defender has an Achilles problem that La Liga, after receiving a medical report from Barcelona, accepted as a long-term injury. This allowed Barca to take advantage of a rule enabling clubs to temporarily register new players in the place of injured ones.
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When January comes around, Olmo will again be ineligible to play — unless Barca find a way to fully conform with La Liga’s spending rules before then and register him permanently. But after last night’s performance, not many fans will care about that for now.
Olmo was simply exceptional. He revitalised an uninspired Barca, combining in mesmerising fashion with his international team-mates Pedri and Lamine Yamal, before putting the icing on the cake with a late left-footed winner.
Olmo replaced an underwhelming Ferran Torres and played as a number 10, which seems to be the role where new manager Hansi Flick prefers him. With his first touch of the ball he got into the box and nearly won a penalty. Minutes later he hit the crossbar with an impressive long-range effort. He touched the ball 39 times, completed 21 passes with 84 per cent accuracy and made two successful dribbles. If there were any doubts over his signing, this was a debut to put them to bed.
“When he came in you saw that we had more control with the ball,” Flick said after the match. “His ball possession is really safe and in front of goal he knows how to score. For a midfield player (that) is not normal, but he is very good at this.”
Pedri and Yamal stepping up
It is impossible not to associate Barcelona’s perfect start to the season with the contributions of those two young star players.
Pedri completed a quick recovery from injury to feature as a substitute in Barca’s opening La Liga fixture at Valencia (a 2-1 win) and has not looked back since. He started last weekend’s 2-1 home victory over Athletic Bilbao and shone in a way he has not for months. On Tuesday night at Rayo, Flick gave him the reins in midfield, placing him just in front of a positional holding midfielder in Marc Bernal, and again the 21-year-old unleashed his best version.
Pedri has made an impressive start to the new campaign (Oscar J. Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Pedri controls the timing. He provides the pausa (pause) when Barca’s structure is at risk of breaking. But he has also been very good at reading the moments in which he can set foot in the opposition’s box.
Pedri scored Barca’s equaliser, finishing a counter attack he started when reading perfectly how to launch a pass to Raphinha on the run. He was replaced near the end of the game having taken a knock, but confirmed after the game he was in perfect condition.
There should also be praise for, again, Yamal. Now it’s not just the impact he has in matches, becoming the biggest attacking threat Barcelona have. This season he is also adding numbers into his game. In three matches he has scored one and assisted three times (he provided the pass for Olmo’s winner). His progression is on the right track.
Marc Bernal’s nightmare
On a night this promising 17-year-old midfielder put in another performance to remember, one that confirmed his readiness to take over Barcelona’s holding midfielder role, an unfortunate tackle in stoppage time tore his dream to pieces.
Marc Bernal suffered a knee injury in the dying minutes of the game. He left the pitch in tears, helped by backroom staff members. Two hours later, he was leaving the stadium on crutches with his left knee fully bandaged.
“Marc’s injury does not look good,” Flick said. “All the dressing room was around him after the final whistle. It hurts a lot, and it is a sad victory for us”.
Bernal is helped off the pitch by Barca staff (Irina R. Hipolito/Europa Press via Getty Images)
More tests and scans are expected on Wednesday at the club’s training facilities, but dressing room sources fear this could be a season-ending problem.
There are a few days remaining of the transfer window, but it looks unlikely as of now that Barcelona can try to replace him with a new signing, given their difficulties with registering new players.
“The injury is still very recent to know the situation we have,” Flick said. “But at the end we have many players that can perform as a holding midfielder. After the break we hope to recover one or two players from the injury list that can help in that department.”
(Top photo: Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images)
