FC Barcelona won their first La Liga match against Villarreal (4-0). Ansu Fati shone on the pitch at the Camp Nou
Barca fans were looking forward to this day. It was not until the third day of La Liga that the Catalan club entered the competition, its first matches having been postponed following its European tour. And this first official match of the Koeman era was logically going to be closely scrutinized all over Spain, Europe, and the world. The Dutch tactician was unsurprisingly betting on a 4-2-3-1, with Busquets and De Jong in the double-pivot. Behind Antoine Griezmann, the leading striker was a trio of Ansu Fati, Coutinho, and Lionel Messi. Opposite, a brand new Villarreal team, with Unai Emery on the bench. The Yellow Submarine had started the season rather well and was counting on his formidable attacking duo Alcacer-Gerard Moreno to undermine Barca.
The two teams were more offensive from the start, with the locals gradually putting their foot on the ball, without succeeding in causing real problems to the defense of the Yellows. But on the first real Catalan offensive action, Ansu Fati was going to shake the back of the net. Launched on the left side by Clément Lenglet, Alba set back for the Barcelona nugget that struck from inside the foot, under the bar (1-0, 15th). Enough to celebrate his new release clause of 400 million euros and his brand new number 22 with gusto. And he wasn’t satisfied… Philippe Coutinho moved perfectly for the Spanish international neo, who beat Asenjo from close range (2-0, 18th). Infinitely superior, the Barcelonans totally dominated their subject.
Koeman’s Barça promises
And it kept going. Alba dispatched a knock out by the rival doorman (26th). Ansu Fati, on fire, even provoked a penalty, converted by Lionel Messi (3-0, 34′). At the age of 17, he wore Barca, well helped by his equally fit partners. On a ball put in the box by Lionel Messi, Pau Torres intervened in front of Busquets to prevent the midfielder from resuming… but he sent it to the bottom of his net (0-4, 45th)! The Catalans delivered an excellent performance, and we found this fluid game that has been so lacking in this Camp Nou – this empty evening – in recent years. It should be noted that Frenkie de Jong was brilliant in the middle, while Antoine Griezmann had trouble showing himself in front. Across the street, Unai Emery had the face of bad days on his bench…
On the way back from the locker room, and despite some changes made by the Basque tactician, Villarreal was still under the onslaught of Barcelona. Ronald Koeman’s troops had dropped the pace a little but remained quite serene. Asenjo still had to work hard to prevent Messi from giving himself his double with a nice tap (66th). Philippe Coutinho continued to show him beautiful things. Pedri and Dembélé took the place of the Brazilian and Fati, the Frenchman signing his return after a long injury. Messi missed his header from the penalty spot after a good ball from Alba (72′). Miralem Pjanic also made his debut in the 77th minute, as did Francisco Trinco, both showing interesting things about their short start. The score did not move despite a nice entry of taking Kubo at the Submarine, and Barca thus offers a perfect first in La Liga. A dream start for Ronald Koeman in short!
