Girona 1-4 FC Barcelona: Dazzling derby victory

FC Barcelona struggled both home and away to Girona last season, but it was a very different story this Sunday as they blew their Catalan neighbours aside to the tune of a 4-0 victory.

The trip to the club that finished third in La Liga last time out was, on paper, one of the trickiest fixtures of the whole season. But wearing their new ‘Black Barça’ strip, Hansi Flick and his charges passed the test with flying colours.

That’s a perfect five wins from five games for the league leaders, and eleven goals to no reply in the last two outings. Things couldn’t be looking better as we go into the first week of the Champions League campaign, with Monaco away to come on Thursday.

Lamine at the double

Barça had Lamine Yamal to thank for goals one and two. The first came from nowhere. David López was casually dribbling a nothing ball out of defence when the teenager pounced on him like a leopard seizing its prey.

The ball now at his feet, the MVP of the game stunned Montilivi with a well-struck finish and followed that up with a second goal just seven minutes later. The home defence did a poor job of clearing a free kick, and the man of the moment was waiting on the edge of the area to collect the ball, pick his spot, and slot it deftly home.

Olmo and Pedri extend the lead

Barça were utterly in command, and we’d seen very little of Girona until Ter Stegen produced the save of the day to deny Bryan Gil from point blank range and immediately after was preparing to face a penalty after Iñigo Martinez handled in the area.

VAR came to the rescue there, the decision was turned around and instead Barça would be extending their lead immediately after the restart when Jules Kounde adeptly picked out Dani Olmo, and the new signing slammed in from close range, extending his goalscoring run to three games. The only three games he's played for the team so far!

Barça were on a roll, and there could have been more goals, particularly from Robert Lewandowski, before Pedri did make it 4-0, the Canary Islander converting a splendid through ball from young Marc Casadó.

Torres off

In a week when their own Champions League campaign begins at PSG, it was proving to be a tough afternoon for Girona. But Montilivi did have something to celebrate when they snatched a late consolation goal from the foot of Cristhian Stuani.

Shortly after, Barça were reduced to ten men when Ferran Torres was punished with a direct red for a rather feisty challenge on Yaser Asprilla.

But neither of those late twists were going to have much impact on today’s script. By that stage, the game was more than over. Barça, by far the better team, had already done more than enough to win back the bragging rights in the Catalan derby.

Next up, its the Stade Louis II on Thursday at 9pm CEST. Monaco, here we come!