The Barça victory was incontestable. Deafening. Mestalla counted up to five. Rarely have we seen soundtracks more opposite than those performed by Valencia and Barcelona. The first was a victim of fear. The second printed a leader's pace. Champion with license to dream of the third consecutive League. Even if it's day 4. Even if the thermometer reads 36 degrees. It doesn't matter. There were five great goals. Lamine Yamal scored a double. And they signed up for the Fermín party. And Raphinha.And Pedri. The leader shone alone in the soon-to-be-old Mestalla, a stadium that is beginning to say goodbye to its fans in the worst possible way while waiting for the New Mestalla: more surly than ever. Propelling much louder boos from their throats against Peter Lim and his management than against Barcelona itself. An atmosphere that terrifies their own team, a soulless group at the mercy of Barcelona.
The melody that inspires Barcelona fans is the opposite. Flick gave Rodri his first start in his 100th game in the League. At his side, Pedri, Flick's dream couple. Pedri's nervousness seems very far away when the Madrid native replaced him in the starting eleven of the Spanish team in the World Cup. Barça is another story. Little by little they began to fit in better: Rodri led the orchestra with gestures and solid defense. Pedri led the tempo. And it would score 0-4.
But first it was Lamine Yamal who set the tone for the relentless Barça. The bandaged knee after the blow doesn't matter. Or that he didn't train the day before as a precaution. Nothing can with the extreme. What a dance that was marked with Fermín. Both took over the right side and a great chipped pass from the Andalusian helped the Rocafonda player score a goal: a shot over Dimitrievski. A goal of extreme elegance that silenced Mestalla. Five minutes had passed. A storm was coming. Meanwhile, Lamine dedicated the goal to his brother Keyne, who was turning four.
Lamine wanted more. And, again, Fermín gave him the second three minutes later. Mestalla, now, exploded with rage. And at that time the occupants of the entertainment stands had not yet entered, who had asked to enter from the 19th minute - due to the year 1919 in which the club was founded - as a protest. And the VAR annulled the goal due to an offside by Lamine that was impossible to detect for the human eye. We will have to trust technology.
“Don't worry, you'll score another one,” Flick told the Rocafonda player, who was intimidating Dimitrievski again and again inside the area. But he was his first ally. It was Fermín who caught Gordon's back pass inside the area to send the ball out of Dimitrievski's reach with a cross shot.
Barça only conceded two defensive errors, both of which were solved without consequences. The first came after a loss by Gerard Martín, dazzled by the sun against Danjuma. An imperial Cubarsi burst in as a firewall and stopped the action. The second came after the injury of Eric Garcia, who received a blow from Rodri in the nose. The heartbroken man from Madrid asked for forgiveness. The one from Martorell downplayed it: last year he played with a mask after breaking his nose. He made her his talisman. Koundé replaced him and, precisely, he made the following mistake: he lost a ball and Danjuma found space again, but Rodri, at the limit, blocked his advance and Joan Garcia ended up taking the ball. Because of coverage like this, Rodri will shine even more in this Barça.
Barça got the goal from their nine: a locked-in Raphinha, less participatory than usual, victim of the five-man defense that Corberán set up. No problem. Everything comes. The top scorer of the League finished off a great collective play by Barça from Rodri, Lamine and Fermín, who assisted him at the far post. The captain, thirsty for a goal, made an unopposed shot.
Barça advanced relentlessly against a decadent Valencia. Fermín looked for Raphinha and left Gordon alone, who barely managed to raise the score to 0-4. It is difficult to remove Fermín, author of 4 goals this season. Like Gordon, who has the same assists. But Flick, a great manager of minutes, called Adeyemi, Bernal and an impeccable Olmo. Flick was not wrong: a wall between the latter and Pedri that the Canarian magician solved with class against Dimitrievski meant 0-4.
Even Gabriel Jesus in his placid debut was close to the goalkeeper. But the final note was given by the person who began to compose the most steamroller version of Barça: Lamine Yamal with Olmo's second assist of the afternoon. And Barça, the unquestionable leader and alone, ended its time in the League at the old Mestalla with the biggest possible win there at the champion's pace against a defenestrated Valencia.
Valencia: Dimitrievski, Maffeo (Elliott,54), Arnau Martínez, Pepelu (Tárrega, 54), Diakhaby (Iker Córdoba, 63), Jesús Vázquez (Gayà, 54); Otorbi (Hugo Duro, 76), Dieng, Ugrinic, Javi Guerra (Sato, 63) and Danjuma.
Coach: Carlos Corberán
Barcelona: Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia (Koundé, 29), Cubarsí (Christensen, 62), Gerard Martín, Xavi Espart, Rodri (Bernal, 62), Pedri (Gabriel Jesus, 81), Fermín (Olmo, 75); Lamine Yamal, Gordon (Adeyemi,62) and Raphinha
Coach: Hansi Flick
Stadium: Mestalla (47,319 spectators)
Referee: Díaz de Mera
Cards: Yellow card to Arnau, Cubarsí, Rodri and Fermín
