Lewandowski Rules at Mestalla

Barcelona got the most out of Mestalla by surgically choosing when they had to score . Lewandowski, with two goals, pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for a Barça that won 1-2 in Valencia after playing a first half to lose and a second to win. With a very young team, Flick got his first three points after fighting hard against a rival that had the game in its hand, but could not define against a rival that was imposing itself as the minutes passed.

Flick was conditioned by salary problems that left Dani Olmo out of the squad and the already known injuries of Gavi, Araújo, Ansu and De Jong, to which Gündogan was added at the last minute and with Fermín on vacation (four theoretical starters, at least), the German coach turned to La Masia. He showed up at Mestalla with a starting lineup that included three 17-year-old players (Lamine Yamal, Cubarsí and Marc Bernal) and two 20-year-olds (Balde and Casadó). Valencia also came out relying on youth. A defense with an average age of less than 22 years. Flick maintained his bet on the double pivot for Bernal and Casadó and removed Christensen from the starting eleven to make way for Cubarsí. From midfield onwards, the thing was to see how the three who were going to play behind Lewandowski would organize themselves in the absence of the German.

Lewandowski Rules at Mestalla.

Valencia, who have a militant fan base like few others and who did not leave a seat free at Mestalla on the 17th of August, came into the game with high pressure, so Baraja accepted the supposed script that Flick proposed. The mystery of how Barcelona’s three forwards were going to be organised was resolved with Lamine on the right, Ferran on the left and Raphinha behind the Pole.

The match started with Valencia coming out very quickly on the attack and placing balls into the centre of the area that caused more scares with the corrections of the Blaugrana defenders than with the shots of the home team . Cubarsí was close to scoring two own goals in 22 minutes with two clearances. One went just wide and the other was saved by Ter Stegen. In contrast, Barcelona only created danger from outside: a shot from Balde and another from Raphinha, which were met by the agility of Mamardashvili.

Valencia saw a goldmine in Barcelona’s inaccuracies in the build-up to the game and in the 44th minute Hugo Duro took advantage of one of these losses to finish off a great cross from Diego López. Valencia were superior and deserved the goal and could have sealed the match after a glaring error by Ter Stegen who failed to clear the ball and when Duro was celebrating his double, Cubarsí appeared to clear the ball over the goal line.