Three talking points from Valencia 1-2 Barcelona

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The season starts with a win at Mestalla

Hansi Flick enjoys winning start as Barcelona boss

Hansi Flick’s first game in charge of Barcelona ended in a 2-1 win over Valencia at Mestalla in what was a tricky opening game for the German.

Valencia went 1-0 up and could have been 2-0 ahead at the break but for Pau Cubarsi clearing off the line just before half-time. Instead Robert Lewandowski netted moments later to ensure parity at the break.

A Lewandowski penalty minutes in the second half then put Barca ahead and, after a testing first half, the visitors took control and went on to see out an important win.

3 - Hansi Flick has become the third German to coach Barcelona in @LaLigaEN, after Hennes Weisweiler and Udo Lattek, making his debut with a win like his two predecessors.

Tuning. pic.twitter.com/dnTMmVbpCv

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) August 17, 2024

Barca weren’t perfect by any means but were without several key players such as Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Ilkay Gundogan and Frenkie de Jong as well as new signing Dani Olmo.

Flick fielded three 17-year-olds in Lamine Yamal, Marc Bernal and Pau Cubarsi, also started Marc Casado and handed Gerard Martin a La Liga debut off the bench for Alejandro Balde.

Barca’s new boss admitted “not everything went well” after the match but there’s no doubt it’s a promising start to a new era and one the Catalans can certainly build on.

How many more chances will Ferran Torres get?

Ferran Torres was something of a surprise inclusion in the starting XI but offered absolutely nothing against one of his former clubs and managed just 22 touches in his 64 minutes on the pitch.

Elsewhere, Robert Lewandowski scored twice, Lamine Yamal grabbed an assist, Raphinha won a penalty, but there was very little to remember from Ferran.

In fact the one memorable chance he did have (which would have made it 3-1) he wasted. Torres was sent through on goal but you never got the feeling he was going to score. A tame shot at the goalkeeper followed to the surprise of absolutely no-one.

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And yet his performance was no real surprise. Torres has done very little since he arrived from Manchester City in December 2021, apart from occasionally looking a half-decent option off the bench, and you wonder how many more chances he’s going to get.

Of course, there have been the odd bright moments from Torres, a lot of talk about his ‘Shark’ mentality, vows to succeed at Barca and plenty of insistence he doesn’t want to leave. And that’s about it.

In the meantime Barca have been busy trying to offload Ronald Araujo, Ansu Fati, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha and now Ilkay Gundogan while the rumor mill remains quiet about Torres. Yet if the club are determined to make exits this summer then the Spain international is one player who really wouldn’t be missed.

Big season ahead for Casado & Bernal

Two players who did impress for Barcelona were the two Marcs who started a La Liga game together for the first time on a testing away ground and helped secure the win. It was a bold call by Flick and one that worked out.

Barca’s inability to bring in a new midfielder this summer has allowed the two youngsters a great chance to stake a claim for a starting spot and neither let their manager down on Saturday night.

Casado was everywhere and even had a couple of chances to score, while Bernal finished with a frankly ridiculous pass accuracy rate of 94% on his first team debut at Mestalla.

3 - Barcelona are the only team to have started three under-18 players in a @LaLiga match since at least 1998/99, doing so twice already: v Almería in May 2024 (Yamal, Cubarsí and Fort) and today v Valencia (Yamal, Cubarsí and Bernal).

Youth. pic.twitter.com/cAzrAiz2Cx

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) August 17, 2024

The teenager eventually gave way to Eric Garcia in the closing stages as Flick experimented again with his midfied due to the absences of De Jong, Gundogan and Gavi. It was Eric’s first competitive game back since a season on loan at Girona and he did a good job.

The pivot position is a real issue for Flick this season and it remains to be seen who will feature when everyone is fit and available once again. What is clear already is that we are likely to see a lot more of Casado and Bernal this season.

Source: barcablaugranes.com