Xavi already said it and now she is Flick's darling: the hot notes from the derby

BarcelonaBarça is now touching the League, with a nine-point lead over Real Madrid after beating Espanyol (4-1) in a derby in which the white and blue team did not stop fighting despite the good first half from the blaugranas. Below are the immediate reactions from the derby.

Gavi, the soul of the team. Not even five minutes had passed when Gavi, after fighting for a divided ball and forcing a throw-in, raised his arms high, spurring on the fans. Few players live this sport with the same passion as him, and few footballers feel the derby like him. His energy is contagious. After calling for the support of a fanbase that had a great time after the crushing defeat against Atlético, it was Lamine Yamal who cheered them up. Both shone in a match in which Gavi – who played as a false left winger – was once again a starter almost a year after the last time (May 25, 2025). He is one of the footballers Flick takes the most care of: for example, he attended the pre-derby photo with his jersey. Xavi already said it: "He is the soul of the team." The fans chanted his name.

Ferran ends the ghosts. If Gavi felt like a starter again almost a year later, Ferran Torres scored a goal again more than two months after the last time, against Elche, on the now distant January 31st, when he had scored his last goal. The forward from Foios, who had gone four games without starting, opened the scoring with a header and completed his brace by expertly finishing a delicious assist from Lamine Yamal. It was his 18th goal of the season. He left a somewhat ugly scene here when, after celebrating the goal, Lamine Yamal grabbed him so he would celebrate it a little more, and Ferran made a gesture to the fans with his hands, indicating that he is criticized but he acts as if he doesn't hear anything. Unnecessary. Let's focus on the fact that Barça is regaining firepower for the crucial match at the Metropolitano.

Casadó plays again. The derby was also a breath of fresh air for Marc Casadó. The midfielder, who hadn't been playing much in recent matches – he hadn't played more than half an hour since March 7th – played the entire second half when he replaced Gerard Martín, who had to leave the match earlier than expected as a precaution. Casadó played at a good level, in a second half that was more complicated than the first, because the azulgranas lowered their pace after having done the work in the first half and Espanyol held on until Barça's third goal. Which, precisely, came thanks to an assist from Casadó to Lamine Yamal. Only Roony continues to be ostracized.

Praise the youth academy players. The glory of the derby is also explained by the youth academy players. Some, like the aforementioned Lamine Yamal or Gavi and many more (Cubarsí, Balde, who also played in Espanyol's youth academy...), have had their fill of playing derbies in lower categories. Also Pol Lozano or Omar in the blanquiazul squad. Both teams continue to maintain a brutal statistic that ARA had published in the preview. and that ARA had published in the preview. Since April 6, 2002, Barça has always had at least one youth academy footballer in every minute. And Espanyol, in the entire 21st century, has only been without a youth academy player on the field for two short periods – against Elche (11/18/23) and against Alavés (1/30/26). Furthermore, this season Barça even started with an eleven with nine Catalans – Joan, Eric, Cubarsí, Gerard, Balde, Casadó, Bernal, Olmo and Lamine – in matchday 14.