Robert Lewandowski’s two goals gave Hansi Flick his first win in Barcelona.
Robert Lewandowski scored twice for Hansi Flick’s Barcelona side as they beat Valencia 2-1 in their La Liga opener on Saturday. Barca prevailed against a strong team led by Ruben Baraja and beat Valencia. The German coach celebrated his first competitive game as a coach with three points.
Hugo Dureau’s 44th-minute goal gave the hosts the lead, but experienced Polish striker Lewandowski equalized from close range before the end of the first half and converted a penalty early in the second half. While champions Real Madrid, led by new superstar Kylian Mbappe, take on Real Mallorca on Sunday, Barcelona started their title fight with an impressive result at Valencia’s wild Mestalla Stadium.
Barca lost key players such as Frenkie de Jong, Gabi and Ronald Araujo, and coach Flick selected three 17-year-olds into the starting line-up. Spain’s Euro 2024 star Lamina Yamal, whose father was stabbed earlier this week, Pau Quarchi and midfielder Marc Bernal, who will make his debut.
“I think we played very well in the second half and had three or four very young players. I think this game is very important. It’s very important to win at the beginning of the season, especially in this stadium in Valencia.” He told Lewandowski and Movistar.
“My goal is always to score goals. I don’t know how many goals I will have by the end of the season, but today was my first game, so scoring goals was very important for me to gain confidence.” important for
Barcelona’s summer signing Dani Olmo has yet to be registered and Flick said the player still needs to get up to speed on fitness. The head coach was happier with his team’s performance in the second half than before the break.
“The second half was much better than the first half, where we made a lot of mistakes,” Flick told Movistar. At the end of the first half we came back and the second half was much better.
The first half was evenly matched, with the teams only creating a few chances in the first 40 minutes before the break. Duro headed over the crossbar from a corner and Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamadashvili parried Rafinha’s powerful shot.
Valencia took the lead in the 44th minute when Inigo Martínez missed and Doro headed in Diego López’s cross. Los Ce should have doubled their lead but Corsi blocked Douro’s shot over the line after passing the ball to Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Lewandowski equalized from close range in stoppage time after Yamal parried Alejandro Balde’s cross in the penalty area. Barcelona took the lead shortly after half-time when Valencia defender Cristian Mescura brought down Rafinha in the penalty area.
Lewandowski, who turns 36 next week, fired the penalty into the top corner. Barcelona kept Valencia in check for most of the second half, maintaining a slow pace of play.
The Catalans were presented with their best chance to score again when Ferran Torres sent a weak shot straight at Mammartasvili and midfielder Marc Casado missed a good position towards the end.
Lewandowski had a chance to complete the hat-trick in stoppage time, but he shot off the post. “We controlled the game in the closing stages,” said the former Bayern Munich striker, who played under Flick in Germany.
“We took the first step on the first matchday and now we have three games (in La Liga) which are very important.” Valencia fans.
“Lamine is a great player and I think everyone wants to see him play football… you could say the whole world wants to see him play,” added Flick. Barcelona will host Copa del Rey winner Athletic Bilbao next Saturday.
