Girona 1-4 Barcelona: Talking points as Barca triumph to maintain perfect season start

Barcelona comprehensively beat Girona at the Montilivi on Sunday afternoon in the fifth round of the season in La Liga, making it five victories straight to maintain a perfect record and keep a firm hold on the top of the table.

Lamine Yamal struck twice in the first half (30′, 37′) to put the visitors ahead, and Dani Olmo produced a fantastic finish two minutes into the second half to practically settle the outcome. Still, Barcelona weren’t going stop just yet, and it was Pedri who scored their fourth goal in the 64th minute, before Cristhian Stuani pulled one back for Girona with 10 minutes to go.

In the 86th minute, Ferran Torres put a bit of a stain on his team’s performance by stamping on the foot of Girona’s Yaser Asprilla, earning a straight red card for his trouble.

The teams

Michel, who did a great job with Girona last season by leading his team into the Champions League, chose a 4-2-3-1 setup. With Paulo Gazzaniga in goal, Alejandro Frances, David Lopez, Daley Blind and Miguel Guttierez formed the back line. The double pivot in the middle of the park consisted of Ivan Martin and Jhon Solis, and striker Abel Ruiz had the trio of Bryan Gil, Viktor Tsygankov and Arnaut Danjuma in support.

Hansi Flick in the Barcelona dugout went with the same formation. Robert Lewandowski led the line up front, with Dani Olmo directly behind, Yamal on the right and Raphinha on the left. Pedri paired up with Marc Casado in deeper midfield roles. Centre-backs Inigo Martinez and Pau Curbasi were flanked by Alejandro Balde and Jules Kounde, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen between the posts.

The game

Though Barcelona appeared more determined to go for a goal early on, the first 30 minutes of the match were actually balanced pretty well. Girona had some promising moments too while the scoreline remained 0-0, and they were obviously made to pay later for not being more focused in those situations.

What made it worse for the home side was the fact that…

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Author : Veselin Trajkovic

Publish date : 2024-09-15 21:35:13

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