4 things we learned from Barcelona 6-1 Alaves as Raphinha and Lamine Yamal respond in style
After a depressing double loss to both Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, FC Barcelona needed more than just three points from their Halloween night clash at the Spotify Camp Nou. They needed to get rid of their demons and handed Hansi Flick his landmark 100th win in charge as they ran riot against Deportivo Alaves for a 6-1 thrashing, restoring their confidence at the top of La Liga and taking their goal tally to an incredible 46 in just 11 league games.
Under pressure, Barcelona’s two main attacking stars stepped up and dominated proceedings before half-time. Raphinha opened his scoring account for the season with two goals in the first half, hitting 17 goals in all competitions, including 15 in La Liga in just 11 games. He joined forces with Lamine Yamal who scored a brace and provided an assist to take his personal tally to 12 goals and 11 assists. A late goal from Anthony Gordon completed the rout after a neat pass from Rodri.
Here are our four key takeaways from the match.
1. Fermín Lopez reminded everyone of his quality
Following Dani Olmo’s injury, FC Barcelona put their faith in Fermin Lopez to play attacking midfielder. The 23-year-old played like a demon throughout the 90 minutes with a goal and two assists in the first half.
He started brightly in the eighth minute after winning the ball after a brilliant outside-of-the-boot pass from Pedri down the left-hand side. He threaded the pass to Raphinha to complete a 15-pass move involving nine Barcelona players. He then doubled his tally in the 15th minute after receiving a pass from Lamine Yamal and blasting the ball from an awkward angle to give Barcelona a 2-0 advantage.
Fermin continued to press high throughout the game to win the ball back in the 41st minute. This led to Raphinha scoring his second goal. He could have had a third assist in the second half after a poor miss from Karim Adeyemi. When Fermin plays like this he provides so much energy to the team and is able to completely dominate tight defences.
2. Raphinha returns to the scorers' list and changes the attacking structure
Although Barcelona dominated Madrid earlier in the week, they struggled in front of goal. However, Raphinha was back to his best against Alaves, which changed the attacking structure completely.
Whenever Raphinha is in clinical form early in matches, opposition managers will drop into high blocks. Raphinha opened the scoring in the eighth minute, instantly changing Alaves’ gameplan. He then scored again in the 41st minute to kill the game.
Raphinha and Lamine Yamal provided a great partnership. Raphinha stretched the backline vertically and Lamine Yamal scored his second goal of the game in first-half stoppage time before he added a delicate chip from a Gabriel Jesus through-ball to make it 6-1 in the 64th minute. This means opposition teams will struggle to double up on one as they can’t leave the other unmarked.
3. Frenkie de Jong can be a real stop-gap centre-back
Going into the weekend, Barcelona had Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen and Xavi Espart all injured. They would have been worried about their backline. However, Hansi Flick made two brave decisions. He gave Brian Farinas his confident debut for 90 minutes in the right-back position. He also moved Frenkie de Jong into the centre-back position to join Pau Cubarsi.
It paid off brilliantly. De Jong and Cubarsi (who completed 117 passes) provided a great first-phase attack. This meant Barcelona controlled the game with 77% of the ball and had a 93% pass completion rate having attempted 822 passes. De Jong’s ability to avoid pressure, recover and distribute helped smother Alavés.
Proof of how well he played came in the final 10 minutes. Whilst he was on the pitch for 81 minutes, Barcelona didn’t concede a goal. However, he was substituted in the 81st minute for Gerard Martin and within 3 minutes they conceded again as Mariano Diaz scored their 84th-minute consolation goal. Until they sign a proper centre-back in January, Frenkie de Jong is lightyears ahead of Gerard Martín as a stop-gap option with Pau Cubarsi.
4. Hansi Flick finally managed Pedri’s workload
One of the cleverest decisions Hansi Flick made was to substitute Pedri at half-time. Throughout the years, Barcelona managers have been guilty of playing Pedri for 85-90 minutes in games that they have already won. This leads to him getting burned out.
In the first half, Pedri was outstanding. He sparked the opening goal with a moment of brilliance. However, he received a yellow card in the 40th minute. Lamine Yamal scored his fourth goal of the game in stoppage time of the first half. Despite this, Hansi Flick decided to take him off at half-time to give Marc Bernal a full 45 minutes.
He then took off Raphinha and João Cancelo (who provided the assist for Yamal’s first goal) in the 61st minute to bring on Gabriel Jesus and Alejandro Balde. He also took off Yamal in the 73rd minute. Protecting the legs of Pedri, Raphinha and Yamal after they have secured the points will be vital for Barcelona.
