Barcelona spent the worst week of their season being told what they no longer were. Beaten by Paris Saint-Germain, beaten by Real Madrid in the Clásico, and on Monday they watched the Ballon d'Or go to Harry Kane, with Lamine Yamal third. On Saturday night at Camp Nou, Yamal filed his response: two goals, an assist, and a 6–1 demolition of Alavés that put Barcelona back on top of La Liga.
The contest was over by half-time. Raphinha opened it after eight minutes, finishing from the centre of the box off Fermín López's pass — a move started by Pedri's through ball. Fermín turned scorer on 23 minutes, rifling Yamal's pass into the top corner from a difficult angle on the right. Raphinha got his second on 41 minutes from another Fermín through ball, and in first-half stoppage time Yamal struck the fourth from outside the box, set up by João Cancelo. Four goals, and Alavés had not landed a glove.
The first half belonged as much to Fermín as to the two brace-scorers: a goal and two assists, a hand in each of Barcelona's first three goals, and a performance that bent the game out of shape before Alavés could settle into it.
Hansi Flick could afford to empty the bench early — the booked Pedri off at half-time, Raphinha and Cancelo off just past the hour — and the replacements kept the scoreboard moving. Gabriel Jesus, on for Raphinha in the 62nd minute, set up Yamal's second with the first pass he played, the teenager chipping the goalkeeper. The offside flag went up; VAR checked; the goal stood.
Yamal's replacement finished the scoring. Anthony Gordon, on in the 74th minute, chipped in the sixth on 81 minutes from Rodri's through ball. The only blemish came three minutes later, when a loose Rodri pass let Mariano Díaz — himself a substitute — pull one back for Alavés.
It was Flick's 100th win as Barcelona coach, and it returned his team to first place — 30 points, two clear — with Aston Villa visiting in the Champions League on Tuesday. But the night belonged to the 19-year-old. Per MisterChip's count, Yamal is the first player since Lionel Messi to reach double figures for goals (11) and assists (12) before November. Kane has the Ballon d'Or. On this evidence, Yamal has already started the campaign to take it.
Sources · 4 sources
- ESPN — ESPN — Barcelona vs. Alavés, match page, play-by-play and box score (gameId 401882822)
- Sports Illustrated — Sports Illustrated — Barcelona player ratings vs. Alavés
- Soccer Laduma — Soccer Laduma — Clinical Yamal matches Messi in Barça's 6–1 win
- Barca Blaugranes — Barca Blaugranes — Barcelona 6–1 Alavés: final score, match report and reactions
