Barcelona extend perfect La Liga start with convincing display in Girona | Quick Reaction and Player Ratings



Barcelona continued their remarkable start to their La Liga campaign with yet another clear victory in Girona on Saturday. The first-of-its-kind Catalan derby in the Primera Division brought a tough contest, particularly in the middle of the park, but ultimately Barca‘s obvious technical superiority and squad depth were too much for the hosts to handle — even though the Montilivi supporters did support their team with admirable passion.

If you were just to check the final scoreboard, you may believe that Barca were gifted with not just one, but two own goals which gave them a clear 2-0 advantage that their Catalan opponents simply couldn’t overcome. However, the truth is that Barcelona faced a very close contest until that valuable first goal eventually came after a very fortunate deflection after a horrendous Jordi Alba volley.

The Blaugranas’ theoretical superiority became more obvious as the game progressed and, shortly after the break, the Girona back-line decide to score again in their own goal, this time by deflecting a crafty back heel cross from Aleix Vidal.

Despite struggling with offside in far too many occasions, Luis Suarez finally managed to redeem himself by netting Barcelona’s third with an emphatic finish following an inch-perfect, far-distance assist from Sergi Roberto. After a couple of games to forget in front of goal, it was brilliant to see El Pistolero smile again when celebrating his 87th goal in his 100th game for Barca.

Match Stats:

Here are Francesc Tomas‘ Player Ratings:

Ter Stegen – 7

Sergi Roberto – 7
Mascherano – 7
Umtiti – 7
Jordi Alba – 7

Rakitic – 6
Paulinho – 6
Iniesta – 7

Aleix Vidal – 7
Luis Suarez – 7
Messi – 7

Subs:
Busquets – 7
Gomes – 6
Denis Suarez – 6

In Episode 35 of The Barcelona Podcast, we discussed Messi’s superb form, Valverde’s experimental tactics and even the Catalan referendum! It’s our best episode yet, we swear! It’s here:



The Barcelona Podcast is brought to you by Francesc Tomas (as seen in ESPN, The Guardian) and Dan Hilton (Barcablog). Listen in for our opinionated take on the hottest breaking stories from the Camp Nou!