Lamine Yamal's laughter sets the course for a more dominant Barça.

BarcelonaLamine Yamal is in a celebratory mood. Three moments of brilliance from him secured a victory against Villarreal, the third-placed team in La Liga, just before facing their most difficult task: overturning a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético de Madrid that seems lost. A utopian challenge, if you stop to think about it. But when Lamine Yamal smiles like he did against Villarreal, anything can happen. And if you add Pedri's magic, it's perfectly understandable to have a license to dream. Football isn't an exact science, but if you combine Lamine's brilliance with the Canary Islander's delightful play, the result is usually good news for Barça.

Rocafonda's genius is no joke. At just 18, he can decide close matches against tough opponents like Villarreal with his first goal. hat trick Wearing the Blaugrana jersey. This season he already has 18 goals, as many as his years. Few years and many goals, in his case. This season he is already the top scorer for a team that worked intensely to secure the three points in a match that wasn't entirely flawless. It wasn't an easy game against a good team that, for the first half hour, managed to stifle the game and frustrate a Barça side that was out of control. It was one of those matches where if you don't score the first goal before halftime, things can get complicated. It was a lackluster match, like the Barcelona sky and the atmosphere in a stand devoid of support. Even without Pedri in the starting lineup, Flick saw how Villarreal were looking to exploit the space behind Balde and a somewhat distracted Koundé. Marc Bernal, who is maturing by leaps and bounds, often found himself surrounded by opponents in yellow, while Ferran Torres moved far, far away, isolated from the game. The Valencian seemed somewhat lost. And yet Barça has won by a landslide.

And he did it because Lamine woke up wanting to do his thing. If he'd finished the last home game angry because he'd been substituted and hadn't scored, against Villarreal he took it upon himself to decide the match. First, by capitalizing on a gift from Fermín, who, with all heart, stepped on the ball from the opposing players as they tried to launch an attack. And then by conjuring up one of his trademark goals, one of those plays where there were still three opponents in the way. Where others wouldn't see a gap, Lamine Yamal sees an opportunity. At 2-0, the game already seemed like a sure thing for a team that would secure the top spot, regardless of what happens on Monday at the Santiago Bernabéu.

But Villarreal has talent to spare, and to start the second half, they punished a Barcelona defense that was a little too slow. Pape Gueye's goal unsettled an overly nervous Barça and led to a few strange minutes in which both teams and their managers exchanged heated words when the visiting team, after a clear foul on Lamine Yamal, continued playing without putting the ball out of play. Flick, celebrating his first 100 matches in Barça colors, wanted to tear into the visiting manager, while Raphinha played with fire – he came very close to being sent off – defending Lamine Yamal. The Brazilian clearly knows who needs protecting.

Lamine, Yamal, and Pedri too. We have to protect the Canary Islander, since Barça's future also depends on him. If Barça lacked control, with him they've recovered it. The Canary Islander is a magician who can change reality with a single trick. Recovering his best form after injury, Pedri hid the ball from the opponents, calmed the atmosphere, and imagined passes until he saw an opening to create one and get the ball to Lamine, who beat Luiz Junior with his third goal of the day. The player from Mataró went to a corner, raised his arm, and counted his goals on his fingers. One, two, and three. How easy to score them against one of the best teams in La Liga.

And right after, Flick took him off the pitch. A word of warning: with the game already decided, they had to take care of the player from Maresme because this Tuesday they host Atlético de Madrid in the Cup. Flick was already thinking about a semifinal that seems lost. But when Lamine Yamal and Pedri play like this, you can make doves fly, right? Thanks to the Canary Islander, who can't stop imagining assists and passes, Lewandowski took care of scoring the fourth goal into an empty net at the end of the game. By then, the opponents were already under Pedri's spell, mesmerizing with his play. With him, four goals have been scored, the ones needed to dream about Tuesday. With Pedri and Lamine Yamal playing like this, anything is possible.