Lamine Yamal and Fermín would dance in hell itself. Barça has in these two undetectable, unstoppable footballers, capable of chaining mischief and destroying rivals with precise movement and lethal hitting. If, in addition, they are surrounded by Pedri or Dani Olmo's wand and Raphinha's fang, they will save them from any fall. In 20 minutes, they put the match on track in what was most similar to a cauldron of hell, due to the heat and suffocating humidity, but they also understood the tar that covered Mestalla, a stand in the grip of such enormous frustration that they chose to protest to the owner's son who was suffocating them rather than cheering on a ridiculed Valencia. There is no redemption possible without freeing yourself from Peter Lim. Meanwhile, everything will focus on surviving. [Narrative and statistics: 0-5]
Barça did not need to press the accelerator to find themselves with a placid match that made them the sole leader. Lamine could have sentenced him in eight minutes. Corberán wanted to populate the leg area with black and white socks without remembering that defending by accumulation is never a good idea. And even less so in the face of a genius who doesn't take long to find the crack in any wall. Flick did not keep it to himself despite his doubts. He sent him to the field to destroy Jesús Vázquez, with Fermín as squire and surrounded by Pedri and Rodrigo, in his first start. Between the four of them they put together the play that ended with Lamine remembering Messi. Profiled in the right corner of the small area, he directed the ball with the outside, drawing a parabola to the corner of the back of the net. Minute 6 and Valencia's tomb was open. Two minutes later it was Pedri who found Fermín between the lines who, far from being selfish, offered her to Lamine to shoot. Valencia was saved due to offside, but the entire stadium, as if it wanted to act as a cheering and protesting stand, which was going to be empty until the 19th minute, began to call for Carlos Corberán's resignation.
Valencia was trying to stretch itself and the desire was not enough. Neither Javi Guerra's stride nor Jesús Vázquez's sterile dribbles were of any use. Not even the physique of the debutant youth squad Otorbi seeking to take advantage of the errors, which the culé defense has. With the parish, suffocating from the heat, shouting against Peter Lim, his son, Kiat, in the box, and his CEO, Ron Gourlay, the second arrived. Once again Lamine sneaked into the area, the center backs stumbled out, but the rebound was caught by Gordon to leave the shot facing Fermín. The duel, without demands, was perfect for the Huelva native, but it was again Lamine who forced Dimitrievski with a screw to the long post. Mestalla was their territory, even when they lost Eric Garcia for breaking his nose in a jump with Rodrigo in a corner.
Helplessness is what the Valencia players conveyed, like Danjuma asking for a penalty for a push from Rodri. The chances kept coming at the other goal, with Lamine dribbling and sneaking between the center backs and Fermín crashing into the post after creating a chance among a tangle of defenders. The score seemed short but comfortable, so much so that Raphinha did not even ask for a possible penalty after Maffeo's knockdown.
