A 'manita' for the blue and red to say goodbye to Mestalla

BarcelonaFireworks to say goodbye to Mestalla (0-5). Barça, who have put all their repertoire of offensive tricks on the table, have thrashed Valencia in a match in which they were favored by the calamitous state of a rival that, normally, used to make things difficult. Now they are living through an internal civil war that is bleeding them dry, with fans fed up with a management that is sinking them. If Barça lives relatively happily, Valencia does not. And the match, which could be Barça's last at Mestalla pending a possible duel in the Cup, has highlighted this reality. In fact, attacking as they did today, Barça would have also won at the Mestalla of before, the one where all rivals suffered greatly. Barça scored five goals and did not even need to play at 100% during the second half.

In 25 minutes, Barça had already scored two goals and a third was narrowly disallowed. A comfortable triumph in a beautiful stadium, one of those from the old days, where you can breathe football and where new idols, like Lamine Yamal, do their thing in the same physical space where Samitier, Puchades, Cruyff, Kempes, Fernando, and Messi had already scored. A stadium doomed to be demolished, since Valencia also considers that it needs a new facility with plenty of spaces for VIPs. It will be a stadium without the soul of Mestalla, a pitch where Lamine Yamal did whatever he wanted today with two goals.

But Barça could not get sentimental. It was necessary to take advantage of Madrid's stumble to keep moving forward and consolidate their position at the top of the standings as early as the first few matchdays. With the transfer market closed, Flick knows which cards he has to play. Julián Álvarez is a prisoner in Madrid and his name is fading from the memory of the 'barcelonistas', who for now worry little about their team's offensive capacity. While waiting for a testimonial Gabriel Jesus to contribute in Valencia, the champion strikes its rivals hard and leaves them stunned. Even though they always play with fire in defense, forcing Joan Garcia to be very attentive, Barça wins matches by devouring the morale of their rivals, who usually end up chasing ghosts, praying not to be thrashed.

Flick gave Rodri his first start, one of those players with such presence and elegance that he seems capable of stopping time whenever he wants. The Madrid native played a good game, despite a few errors before the break that nearly ended in a home goal. When he looked up, Rodri saw a white wall, as Valencia started with a five-man defense. But he also saw a bunch of teammates moving up and down electrically. Lamine Yamal, who hadn't trained the day before, was especially sharp. Playing a lot through the middle, behind Raphinha, he had a great time with Fermín. Together, they deepened the wound of a Valencia side playing under the inquisitorial gaze of their fans. The most radical ones, angry with the board, didn't even enter Mestalla. And the other members spent a good part of the match more focused on the presidential box, where president Kiat Lim was, who they shouted everything at. The management of the Lims, millionaires from Singapore, is currently a good example of everything you shouldn't do if you buy a football club.

And Barça, in part, benefited from this strange atmosphere, especially after the first goal, a one-two between Lamine Yamal and Fermín in which the Maresme native wanted to leave his name in the golden book of Mestalla with a great chip. Five minutes later, he had already scored the second, but the VAR detected an offside of those that are hard to see. The Valencia fans didn't celebrate the referee's decision much, aware that it likely only prolonged the agony. And so it was, as shortly after Fermín López culminated a good team play by Barça to make it 0-2. Every Blaugrana attack seemed destined to be a goal, especially a brilliant play by Gordon, who got rid of three rivals with elegance, only to see his shot hit the post after being touched by Dimitrievski.

Neither the heat, which was suffocating the players, nor Danjuma's vertical runs have distracted a Barça side that didn't even need to offer its best version to make a statement. Nor has the injury to Eric Garcia affected them; he left the pitch with his face full of blood after colliding with Rodri inside the rival area. Kounde, his substitute, understood what he had to do on the right, while Xavi Espart continues to demand a spot by playing everywhere. A full-back with the soul of a midfielder in a Barça where position swapping is a constant. Now Gordon drops to the right, now you find him on the other side. Raphinha, much the same. A praise of movement, an ambitious, seductive team that could have scored many more goals before the break.

A smart Barça, which understood that it was necessary to settle the match quickly to turn it into a formality without much history. And not tire the legs. Said and done. Raphinha scored the 0-3, a fact that ended the little resistance of a Valencia looking like it is facing a season in which it will suffer greatly again. With everything settled, the changes arrived and the debut of a Gabriel Jesus who has already understood that it will be difficult for him to be a starter in a Barça that did what it wanted with an opponent turned into a toy. Pedri and Lamine Yamal took advantage of it to turn the last visit to Mestalla into one of the most remembered. A fiver as a farewell.