Barcelona’s pre-season tour came to life after they thrashed arch-rivals Real Madrid 3-0 in El Clasico at AT & T Stadium yesterday.
Following the heavy defeat against Arsenal, Barca responded well with a dominant display to subdue Madrid, who had won their last two games against AC Milan and Manchester United.
Ousmane Dembele opened the scoring after a perfectly worked free kick, with Pedri providing a sublime assist.
Vinicius Junior squandered a big opportunity to put his side on level terms as he fired his shot to the crossbar from the penalty spot.
Los Blancos were quite unfortunate in the second half as Vinicius and Aurelien Tchouameni were denied by the woodwork.
Barca edged closer to the finish line after La Masia youngster Fermin Lopez scored a thunderous strike before he set up Ferran Torres for the third goal.
Xavi continued his impressive track record in Clasico, with the victory marking his sixth as the manager.
Here are the key talking points from Barca’s commanding performance against Madrid.
Fermin Lopez – the next big thing from La Masia
One of the highlights of Clasico was the emergence of Lopez, who had a sensational cameo in the second half.
Coming off the bench, the La Masia graduate produced a belter of a strike with his left foot that flew past Thibaut Courtois.
The 20-year-old followed up with an assist of the highest quality for Torres’ winning strike.
It was just his second appearance with the first team, and it was enough to show that the future is bright at Barca.
Lopez will look to follow in the footsteps of Ansu Fati, Alejandro Balde, Gavi and Ronald Araujo, who have made their mark in the first team after progressing from the youth ranks.
Oriol Romeu’s masterclass in the midfield
Barca have been used to witnessing Sergio Busquets’ unmatched brilliance in El Clasico over the years.
However, with the legendary midfielder gone, his compatriot Oriol Romeu looks ready to take up the mantle if the display against Madrid is anything to go by.
Moving from Girona for his second stint at Barca this summer, Romeu’s brilliant performance in Clasico shows that Barca’s €5 million outlay on him is a bargain.
The 30-year-old was composed throughout the game, hardly putting a foot wrong.
He was always there to snuff out the threat from Madrid and also controlled the tempo.
Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong was equally brilliant in the victory.
Jules Kounde with a colossal performance
Last season wasn’t memorable for Jules Kounde, who split his time between playing as a centre-back and right-back.
Although the Frenchman played a big part in the La Liga triumph, he didn’t achieve his usual high level.
Things are about to change this season as he produced a top-notch display in the victory over Los Blancos.
The former Sevilla man was at the heart of the win, making the backline impenetrable and progressing the ball with ease.
Kounde easily kept Vinicius, Rodrygo Goes and Jude Bellingham at bay.
Carlo Ancelotti gets his tactics wrong, Joselu should have started
Ancelotti’s strategy to implement a diamond midfield in a 4-4-2 system completely backfired as Madrid looked all over the place.
The absence of a focal point in the attack and the decision to use Vinicius and Rodrygo played into Barca’s hands.
The Catalans negated the threat of Vinicius on the flank by putting in more bodies, and Madrid were found wanting without a natural striker.
Joselu’s introduction was too late to make any meaningful contribution, and he should have got the nod in the starting XI.
The Spanish striker had an excellent game against Manchester United, scoring a sensational bicycle kick.
