Excellent. Ten out of ten. It is very difficult, almost impossible, for Barça to start a season any better. Expectations exceeded. Hansi Flick's team completed their first ten consecutive official matches won (eight in La Liga and two in the Champions League) with a win at Galatasaray's ground that required a reaction to a hesitant start (1-4). Now the calendar gets complicated, with three matches that will test the forceful opinion of Joan Laporta, who stated without hesitation that the team he presides over plays "the best football" in the world. Betis this Saturday, PSG next Tuesday, and Real Madrid on October 25th will be delighted to water down the wine that the Barcelona faithful have been tasting for weeks every time they sit down to watch Lamine Yamal and company play.

Barça thrashing in the Champions League after a first half that didn't look too good. Lamine Yamal and Pedri took flight so that their team could impose its will against a Galatasaray that gave in during the second half. Below, some hot takes.

Simple, emotional, and familiar. Nothing less was expected for the farewell ceremony of Pedro Rodríguez Ledesma, the silent hero of the best Barça in history. The Canarian forward says goodbye to 19 years of professional career. He will blow out 40 candles in 2027 and feels that the time has come to retire to spend more time with his partner, Patricia, and his four children. The youngest, Alejandra, spent the ceremony sitting on her father's lap, who brought her up on stage to silence her crying. It won't be long before she understands the impact of Pedrito, later Pedro, the son of a humble gas station attendant from Tenerife who one day landed in Barcelona and the next day, so to speak, became a legend.

Barça has not skimped on social media posts to report on the return this week of Frenkie de Jong to group training. 136 days after the last time, the Dutch midfielder placed himself under Hansi Flick's orders on Tuesday. He worked for a while at the same pace as his teammates. There are reasons, therefore, to celebrate a little at the end of a long and tedious international break. But the road to this good news has not been easy. It has involved losses of confidence that are difficult to repair. On the verge of seeing him play a match again, De Jong faces (to use cycling jargon) the most demanding stage since he arrived at the Camp Nou.

As ARA has learned, Manel del Río will cease to be the CEO of Barça. The executive, who has already communicated his resignation to president Joan Laporta, will leave the position at the end of this month. This Monday, Del Río said goodbye to the club's management committee and confirmed that he was leaving the post. The position of CEO remains, for the moment, vacant. Sergio Serrano, who has held the financial directorship of the organization since this season, will assume a good part of the functions for the time being. Sources consulted at the 'blaugrana' club assure that the departure is "by mutual agreement" and value Del Río's "great work". "We are beginning a new financial management and a new stage," they state to this newspaper from Barça's executive offices.

If the bright side of Barça's final days in the transfer market was Gabriel Jesus –the emergency solution that Deco found after the repeated rejections from Atlético de Madrid for Julián Álvarez–, the dark side was Marc Casadó. Highly regarded by the Barça fans after two seasons in the first team during which he clearly went from more to less, the midfielder from Sant Pere de Vilamajor ended up leaving through the back door just hours before the deadline for registering new players in La Liga.

A rout to start the Champions League with a smile (5-1). Barça swept past Feyenoord with a performance in line with the formidable start to the season they are currently having. Below, some quick notes.

The same week that José Mourinho, coinciding with the first defeat of his Real Madrid, has opened the jar of excuses, the very powerful merengue media loudspeaker has turned up the volume to find fault with Rodrigo Hernández. After making his debut as a starter in the thrashing at Mestalla, it occurred to the blue and garnet star signing to comment to his teammates on the ease granted by Valencia.

Barça has closed the 2025/26 season with net losses of 18 million euros, moving away from the net profit of 4 million that had been originally budgeted. This result represents a final deviation of 22 million. The numbers audited by Crowe are now available for consultation, with less than three weeks left until the assembly where the delegate members must approve the management of Joan Laporta's board of directors and give the green light to the increase in debt to finish the Camp Nou works, among other things.

Scandalous victory for Barça in their latest La Liga visit to Mestalla that we all know (0-5). The 'culers' imposed their law from the first minute against a Valencia side that looks very poor. Below, some hot takes:

After the Barça rout against Rayo Vallecano (5-2), an indiscreet camera caught a funny scene on the pitch. Karim Adeyemi, who had come on to play in the second half replacing Anthony Gordon, decided to do his post-match warm-up in flip-flops. Pepe Conde, the trainer who was coordinating the routine with other footballers at the time, raised his eyebrows and told him to please put on proper footwear. The German agreed seconds later and joined his teammates – all substitutes – who were working on their fitness in a stadium that was already practically empty.

The Camp Nou remodeling project continues its financial course under the scrutiny of the markets. According to the latest financial update submitted to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), which corresponds to the close of the first half of 2026, the financial vehicle Espai Barça, FT (securitization fund for the money injected by various investors collected by Goldman Sachs), has dedicated €1,162.89 million to the project, which is currently halfway finished. The stadium has reopened the first two renovated tiers, but it still needs to reopen the third tier, which is being built from scratch, and to raise the roof of the entire venue, a fact that will cause a new exile to Montjuïc at the beginning of the next academic year. Regarding the new Palau Blaugrana, the other jewel in the crown of the so-called Espai Barça, there is no further news since the renders that the club distributed before the March elections.

Barça has already debuted three of the five signings confirmed this summer in La Liga. Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi, and Rodri Hernández already know what it's like to compete at the Camp Nou. On the other hand, on the last day of the transfer market, the final arrivals had to be finalized - registered. On one hand, Gabriel Jesus, who was presented after signing a contract that will ultimately be for three seasons, until 2029, and not two plus an optional one. And, on the other, Dominik Livakovic. Both were registered at night: the Brazilian with the number 9 and the Croatian with the number 25.

Hard-fought victory for Barça against Rayo Vallecano in the League. Two goals from Raphinha and two from Lamine Yamal (5-2) decide it in favor of Hansi Flick's side to overcome a always combative opponent. Below, some hot takes.

Atlético de Madrid plays this Saturday at the Sánchez-Pizjuán (9:30 PM, Movistar) their third league match and will not be able to count on their best forward. This was confirmed by Diego Pablo Simeone, in the pre-match press conference: Julián Álvarez will not be on the list of called-up players after three days without training with his teammates. He did train alone this Friday afternoon, accompanied by a club physical trainer at the facilities of the mattress club.

Solid victory for Barça in the second league match. The Blaugranas got rid of a very defensive Athletic Club with two goals from Raphinha and Fermín. Unai Simón prevented a rout. Next, some quick notes.

The family of the underage member assaulted by the National Police before the start of the Elche-Barça match last Sunday has decided to accept the legal coverage offered by Barça. The defense of the case will be handled by criminal lawyer Marc Molins, as the ARA has been able to confirm. The affected person, who spent the night at the police station and suffered multiple injuries and bruises all over his body, faces a charge of attempted assault against authority, which in his case (being a minor) could result in a few months of supervised liberty or community service. However, he has not yet been officially notified by the Public Prosecutor's Office for Minors.

Barça already knows the first part of the path to reach the dreamed Champions League final which will be played on June 5, 2027 at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid. Hansi Flick's team, which fell in the quarterfinals of the previous edition precisely in this venue, will face very tough rivals in the first phase of the competition.

There will be no tribute at Camp Nou to the world champions with Spain on the eve of this Thursday's match against Athletic Club (9 p.m., DAZN). "It is neither the context nor the most appropriate moment. Football should serve to unite and not to create confrontations that do not benefit anyone," declared Joan Laporta, before confirming that Barça will change the congratulations to the world champions for an "act of exaltation of the estelada, which represents the way of thinking of many Barça fans and Catalans." The blaugrana president, who since 2021 had maintained a low profile regarding pro-independence demonstrations and who showed explicit support for the Roja during the World Cup, reiterated that the estelada is a legal symbol within freedom of expression. "It does not generate violence or hatred. It must be respected because it represents our desires for freedom," he stated.

Barça has closed the signing of Dominik Livakovic. For weeks, the blaugrana club had been exploring the goalkeeping market so that Joan Garcia would have a more guaranteed short-term replacement, and the sporting management has finally opted for the Croatian international, who will sign for the next four seasons. The transfer fee will be 2 million euros fixed plus variables, an amount agreed with the Turkish Fenerbahçe, a club that held the priority since the summer of 2023.