The fight at Mestalla targeted the property, went through the bench and ended up with the players. But it wasn't all whistles. The Valencia fans applauded the World Champions. "Thank you for the applause for Mestalla. In a rival field it is very nice. Wish you luck for the rest of the season," Pedri highlighted. Applauded along with Cubarsí, Eric García, Rodri, Olmo and Fermín López.
Fermín missed the World Cup despite the fact that Luis de la Fuente had him on the list due to a fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his right foot in the final stretch of last season. “It was the worst summer of my life,” he confessed in the preseason. From the worst to the best: at the beginning of the season, Fermín López has beaten Olmo in Barcelona's midfield. His numbers defend him: four games (three starts), four goals and two assists. He has nine shots (eight on goal) and 14 duels won. At Mestalla he ran 40 meters into space to find the ball in the play that ended with his assist to Raphinha.
"Fermín has a lot of energy and intensity, with and without the ball. Sometimes I would like him to control the ball more, but he is young," said Hansi Flick. And he also looked at Dani Olmo: "We have many players who can play at the start. I have to manage situations and try to make everyone happy. I am happy with Olmo and I feel that he wants more. We always try to make the best decisions for the team."
Sometimes the German coach is restrained when it comes to taking care of what he says about the players, especially with the younger ones. The same thing happens with Lamine Yamal, for example. Flick behaved differently with the veteran Rodri, this Sunday starting for the first time this season. "We are happy with Rodri, everything he does on the field makes sense. Bernal is also doing well and will improve if he takes advantage of what he is experiencing. Rodri is good on the field and also in the locker room," stressed the Barça coach.
Pedri also spoke about Rodri. Out of tune with the Spain shirt, the Canarian and the Madrid native seek to get along in the Barcelona music theory. "It is said that Rodri and I do not work, but it is very comfortable to play with him. He rarely loses a ball and helps a lot in defense. We are going to understand each other well and with games, even better."
Rodri had a Rodri-like performance against Valencia: 81 of 83 passes completed, 54 of 55 in the opponent's half and not a single dribble was conceded. Added to that are six recoveries. Absolute control of the center of the field to which he added a detail in the Valencia area: the crossbar crossed his path after a header. Gabriel Jesus also had his chance - his shot went wide - who debuted with the Barça shirt at Mestalla. "I still need more minutes to be physically well. We have high-level players and we play very well," said the Brazilian forward.
“What I can see in the players is that they are hungry to achieve more,” Flick intervened. “We have to know that it is a tough road to achieve all the goals we want, but we play for the fantastic fans we have.” In the first four days, Barcelona has scored 17 goals and conceded two.
And Lewandowski and Ferran Torres are no longer on the squad. "People always want to have a player who scores 40 goals... but I think there will be no shortage of goals this year. We created many chances, we have many players who can score many goals. We controlled the game at all times," Pedri said. And, along the same lines, Gerard Martín concluded: "We are having very good competitiveness and we are always hungry for more goals. We are doing well and keeping a clean sheet is a sign that we are not relaxing."
