FC Barcelona made its debut in LaLiga with a narrow victory against Valencia at Mestalla (1-2). In Hansi Flick's official debut as Barça coach, the German took advantage of the opportunism of his star killer at Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski, to turn around a very tough game that looked very bad just before half-time. Hugo Duro had put the hosts ahead and, in the 47th minute, he almost scored a double in an action that Pau Cubarsí saved on the line.
Those were moments where the meeting became an infernal give and take. In the last action of the first half, a passed center from Alejandro Balde found Lamine Yamal almost on the baseline. The '19' managed to bring it down and gave a pass to the center of the area where the experienced Polish attacker appeared to shoot Mamardashvili. The VAR validated the goal and, in the blink of an eye, Barça managed to correct the course of a match that they could have lost by two goals at halftime.
Lewandowski did not miss a penalty courtesy of Raphinha
At the beginning of the second half, Barça went on the attack to make a comeback. Lamine had a clear chance in the 46th minute, but failed to control it before shooting on goal. A minute later, Raphinha was brought down by Cristhian Mosquera in a play in which the Brazilian took advantage of the centre-back's confusion to anticipate and cause the clear infringement. Without hesitation, Lewandowski took the ball and kicked masterfully, placing the ball in the corner, impossible for Mamardashvili despite guessing the side.
In the final stretch, Barça took refuge in possession to maintain the result. Pedri and Casadó had a couple of clear opportunities to extend the lead, while 'Lewy' suffered physical wear and tear and had little impact in the last 20 minutes. Despite this, Flick kept him on the field the entire game, opting to touch up the background and refresh the wings with Pedri and Pau Víctor. In total, 'Lewy' made three shots (two on goal), with 15 of 18 passes completed and a couple of fouls caused. For Barça, it is a great relief to have the '9' plugged in to be able to resolve matches where, in the absence of ideas, they depend on hitting.