Girona vs Barcelona, La Liga: Final Score 1-4, Lamine Yamal shines ...

Barcelona returned from the international break and picked up right where they left off after their perfect first month, and are still the only team in Spain with a 100% record thanks to their fifth win in a row and a 4-1 domination of local rivals Girona in Sunday’s derby at the Montilivi Stadium. Hansi Flick’s troops once again were the better side from beginning to end, and scored some amazing goals to earn three more points on the road and continue their incredible start to the season.

FIRST HALF

Barça fully dominated the first 40 minutes of the opening period with fantastic work in and out of possession. On the ball the Blaugrana were quick, precise and unpredictable with their passing and movement, and without it they never stopped pressing and forcing Girona into hopeless long balls and time again.

Hansi Flick’s side got plenty of shots away and forced Paulo Gazzaniga into some solid saves early on, and their constant pressure eventually earned them the lead: after Girona took a short goal-kick, center-back David López was pressed and dispossessed by Lamine Yamal, who took the ball away and scored from short distance to put Barça in front at the half-hour mark.

Seven minutes later came the second goal: Raphinha’s free-kick was poorly cleared by the Girona defense, and Yamal pounced on the rebound with a glorious curling effort into the bottom corner to double the Blaugrana lead. The visitors were fully in control, and it seemed as though they would cruise to a two-goal advantage at the break.

But Girona finally woke up in the last five minutes of the half, and had two monster chances to get back in the game: the first was a one-on-one chance by Bryan Gil that required a sensational save by Marc-André ter Stegen, and the second was an apparent penalty for a handball on Iñigo Martínez.

VAR intervened, however, and asked the referee to look at the screen. The official was able to see that Alejandro Balde had headed the ball onto Iñigo’s arm from a very short distance, which according to the handball law is not a penalty. The decision was reversed, and Barça escaped with their two-goal lead after the halftime whistle.

At the break the Blaugrana were deservedly in front after a sensational opening period, but the final five minutes proved that Girona were not yet out of it and would bring the heat in the second half to try and get back in the game.

SECOND HALF

Before Girona could attempt any type of a comeback, however, Barça delivered a fatal blow: just 75 seconds into the second half Jules Kounde played an amazing pass over the top with his weaker left foot to find the run of Dani Olmo, who then fired a rocket from an impossible angle to find the net and triple Barça’s lead in spectacular fashion.

Girona continued to attack to try and find a goal in the minutes after conceding their third, and Barça were happy to sit back and create chances on the counter. They did that time and time again, and both Robert Lewandowski and Yamal missed multiple opportunities to add to Barça’s lead before we even reached the hour mark.

But they didn’t have to wait too long to finally find the fourth: an absolutely OUTRAGEOUS through ball from Marc Casadó found Pedri all alone inside the box, and the magician rounded the keeper before joining the scoring party to put the game away for good.

Hansi Flick then began making changes to rest some of his key starters, and Barça’s pace naturally slowed down as they focused on running out the clock and keeping a clean sheet to confirm the victory without any trouble. They couldn’t keep the clean sheet, however, as Portu got in behind the defense and found Cristhian Stuani for an easy tap-in to give the home fans a bit of consolation.

Girona were given an extra little boost at the end when Ferran Torres was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Yáser Asprilla that wasn’t red card worthy, but the Blaugrana still had to finish the game with 10 men. Things got chippy and physical in the dying seconds as Girona started leaving something extra on their tackles, and Flick smartly subbed Yamal off to avoid an unnecessary injury or sending off for the teenager.

The final whistle came to end yet another glorious afternoon for Flick’s troops, who didn’t lose any of their momentum from August and came back from the international break with the same hunger, intensity and organization that we saw in the first four games. Girona were expected to provide a real test but Barça never allowed them to be in the game at all, and easily cruised to another impressive victory.

What a joy it is to watch this team right now.

Girona: Gazzaniga; Francés (Arnau 85’), López, Blind, Miguel; Martín, Solís; Gil (Asprilla 55’), Tsigankov (Van de Beek 69’), Danjuma (Portu 55’); Ruiz (Stuani 69’)

Goal: Stuani (80’)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí (Fort 61’), Iñigo, Balde; Olmo (Eric 61’), Casadó, Pedri (Víctor 69’); Yamal (Martín 90+2’), Lewandowski (Ferran 69’), Raphinha

Goals: Yamal (30’, 37’), Olmo (47’), Pedri (64’)

Red Card: Ferran (86’)