"They can't beat us this year": Barça-Madrid's hot takes

BarcelonaVictory (and a league title practically in the bag) for Flick's Barça in a derby that saw a first half of absolute Barça madness (4-3). Here are some quick notes.

"They can't beat us this year." In the Copa del Rey final, before Barcelona's extra-time victory, Lamine Yamal said this to Araujo. It might have sounded arrogant, but the young prodigy was simply observing and drawing conclusions. Honestly—referring to the meaning of his first name—he said what everyone has seen in the four Clásicos of this season: that there's no comparison. With beauty and flexibility—exactly what his middle name implies—he contributed to the frenzy by overcoming a 2-0 deficit in just 20 minutes with a trademark goal. It's impossible to be more self-confident than that shameless kid. At seventeen, he's managed to make an entire generation of Barcelona fans lose their fear, just as he lost it at Rocafonda Park.

The other nightmare of Real Madrid. Florentino will be too old to grasp Lamine Yamal's complete work, which is only in its initial stages. Accustomed to buying everything, the director meringue He curses Barça's ability to challenge the established powers with homegrown youngsters who feel the colors. In almost 25 years of presidency, he's suffered Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Piqué, Puyol... And now. Absent at Montjuïc because he saw it coming—even with the referees conditioned in his favor, he didn't want to expose himself to humiliation—antidotes like Mourinho's are already being pushed for Guardiola. But in this matter of being a nightmare for Madrid, La Masia isn't always alone. Sometimes foreigners like Raphinha appear to sharpen their teeth. The Brazilian has made himself the Real Madrid player he wanted this season. What a way to take advantage of Carvajal's injury and Lucas Vázquez's incompetence.

"Next year, Ballon d'Or." In March 2022, in his first season as a Barça player, Eric Garcia went viral for teasing Vinícius with this quote. At the time, it was already easy to tease the Brazilian with an award that today, despite having two more Champions League titles under his belt, not only has he not won, but has become universally regarded as a joke. It's funny to revisit this sequence now that Eric is emerging as Flick's favorite all-rounder, now that he's capable of minimizing Vinícius, of winning a La Liga title from him, with a lesson in defensive fundamentals. A true footballer, the Martorell native, who has also dared to score two goals in the two most decisive matches of the season.

What Flick thinks of Araujo. After the physical drubbing that ended tragically in Milan, Barça deservedly won the Clásico that decided everything. The merit is immense, and the added bonus is that the Blaugrana appeared without any rotation in the starting lineup compared to the one they had at the Meazza. The changes came in the second half, with the score at 4-2. Cubarsí's forced substitute made clear the situation Araujo finds himself in after their Champions League exit. It wasn't him, but Christensen, who was tasked with replacing the young Estanyol defender. For Flick's crazy proposal, the Danish center-back is more reliable than the Uruguayan. A shame for one of the squad's captains.