12 hours Ago
Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images A comfortable win for the Catalans Barca take full advantage of Madrid’s slipBarcelona enjoyed a great weekend in La Liga and finish the gameweek a point clear of Atletico at the top and now three ahead of rivals Real Madrid.Los Blancos were beaten by Real Betis on Saturday, giving Barcelona the perfect oppportunity to extend their lead over the defending champions.Hansi Flick’s side promptly did just that and also enjoyed an afternoon where they were able to rotate the squad and keep players fresh ahead of a midweek Champions League tie.
!!️ pic.twitter.com/HSJ89J3pTO— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 2, 2025The game looked over as soon as Aritz Elustondo saw red on 17 minutes and so it proved as Barca racked up the goals and the visitors didn’t manage a single shot on target.
Hansi Flick was a happy man afterwards but refused to get carried away after another big win for his men.“It’s not the time to talk about titles. The objective has to be the next game.
We are going to fight for the three titles and at the beginning nobody expected that,” he told reporters. “That is what we want, to fight for the three titles.”Martin and Casado score to complete the setBarcelona headed into Sunday’s match with Marc Casado and Gerard Martin as the only players yet to score for the first team this season.
That record ended against La Real as both players enjoyed days they will never forget by scoring for the Blaugrana. There was a lot of badge kissing going on and rightly so.19 - With goals from Gerard Martín and Marc Casadó, Barcelona have now 19 different goalscorers this season in all competitions, with only Real Betis (20) having more out of all the teams from Europe's top five leagues (four other teams 19).
Arsenal. pic.twitter.
com/bnGtIdTDQr— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 2, 2025Martin has come in for a fair bit of criticism this season but scored with a lovely effort to break the deadlock. Lamine Yamal tied his defender up in knots down the right and then picked out Dani Olmo in the penalty area. The Spain star then lofted the ball over to Martin to smash home a great finish.
Casado’s goal was not quite as pretty - indeed he called it a ‘bit ugly’ - but the delight at finding the back of the net was still evident for all to see.The midfielder has lost his place in the starting XI to Frenkie de Jong recently, but this was the type of performance that showed once again just what he can offer Hansi Flick’s side and how crucial he can be.Olmo comes in and changes everythingDani Olmo was back in the starting XI against Real Sociedad and put on a show as Hansi Flick’s side cruised to victory.
The Spain star picked up two assists to continue his impressive record this season as a starter for the Blaugrana. He was also the reason Real Sociedad were reduced to 10 men, with Elustondo’s foul on the summer signing the reason for his early bath.10 - Dani Olmo has been directly involved in 10 goals in just 12 starts for FC Barcelona in all competitions (5 goals, 5 assists), providing 2 assists in the same game for the second time for the Azulgrana (24 appearances).
Fruitful. pic.twitter.
com/k4ll515a71— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 2, 2025Yet Olmo was not even in line to start on Sunday. with Flick admitting afterwards that he only played because Gavi wasn’t feeling 100%.“Honestly, I had thought of starting with Gavi, but he felt some discomfort.
He wasn’t feeling well and we changed the plan. That’s why Olmo played,” he told reporters.Olmo has started just eight of his 16 appearances in La Liga this season, predominantly due to physical issues which have been something of a frustration.
But while Olmo may not have been part of Flick’s original plan, he certainly proved to be a game-changer against Real Sociedad. Will he start again in midweek? We’ll have to wait and see..
