Raphinha's Hat-Trick Headlines Rout of Racing | 5 Headlines from 7-2 Win
Racing Santander were the latest victim to Barcelona's sensational start to the season. Two more worrying signs at the back were the lowlights on a rainy night full of highlights, with Raphinha and his hat-trick signing brightest. Or maybe it was Cancelo's opener. Or the Adeyemi and Lamine Yamal seventh. 0:00 Barcelona 7-2 Racing Santander 1:30 Cancelo's Cannon 4:14 Off to the Races 6:10 Too Much Pressure 8:38 Out of Retirement 11:24 Adeyemi Fun and Balde Back Check out our merch in our store! - https://the-barcelona-podcast.creator-spring.com/ Listen to the full podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast ... Follow Me: Instagram ➔ https://www.instagram.com/thebarcelon ... Twitter ➔ https://twitter.com/TheBarcelonaPod Facebook ➔ https://www.facebook.com/barcablog TikTok ➔ https://www.tiktok.com/@barcelonapodcast BlueWireVideo
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For the first time ever, yeah, I'm saying for the first time ever, Barcelona have scored 30 goals or more in their first seven matches in all competitions to start a season. Pretty incredible in year three under Hansi Flick. We worried in the past about managers in year three, that's where you see a little bit of a dip, but no, he's got complete control of the locker room. And if you name a player, especially in that attack, they were doing something today, assisting, scoring goals, causing penalties, or pressing their butts off. That was the story today, along with a few Racing Santander moments where they were able to put Barcelona's defense in the conversation, something that I don't want to continue to have to do, but that's what we're going to get into today because welcome to episode 854 of The Barcelona Podcast brought to you by the Blue Wire Podcast Network. I'm Dan Hilton, we're still off on big up for those watch-alongs for a little bit more, so I've just been cruising, taking my notes, enjoying my time on the big TV instead of watching on my computer, but we're back in short order. In the meantime, subscribe to the YouTube channel, get some Patreon exclusive content, and help me make more shows like this on Patreon. Help me out as well by following along on the podcast apps, all that good stuff. On social media, you know where to find me, @thebarcelonapod, pretty much everywhere. All right, with all the preamble done, let's get into it. This is a big one, and if you think I talk fast normally, now it's time for me to try to jam nine goals into five headlines, but I'll give it my best shot. Here they are, the five headlines of Barcelona's 7-2 win over Racing Santander. Headline one, cancels can't happen. While there was tons of rain in the area in Catalonia and Valencia, some of them they had to cancel that game for Levante, which unfortunate that it got to them too late. In Barcelona, while some fans had trouble getting to and from the stadium, we hope everybody's all right, but with all that weather coming down, they still pushed on and played this match. They also found time to honor long-time delegate of the club, Carles Naval, in the pre-game. That's the a older gentleman that you see and have seen on the sideline for the last 40 years helping with the fourth official give the correspondence from Barcelona's side of things. And the last thing to speak about in the pre-game is that starting 11 with Cubarsí getting the rotation. Adiyemi his fine substitute appearance over the weekend stepping back in the starting lineup. Eric Garcia also keeps his spot now for Koundé and Cancelo comes back in after Xavi's spar over the weekend as well. So, there's your 11. And for Racing Santander, a little bit of rotation, believe it or not, for them. Maybe on the road against Barcelona, they were shipping this one a little bit, but they did trust that 5-3-2 that we've already seen Valencia, Feyenoord, and a bunch of teams that have tried to sit in low blocks. It is not worked for them and unfortunately for Racing Santander, didn't work for them either. I thought the Barca, no offense to Valencia or Feyenoord, would have their best test so far this season with that press and all that pressure, but that was not the case and you could tell from early half chances. It was Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha. They all again those little half chances in the early going. And by the 8th minute, Barcelona were back on the board again, this time through Cancelo. That makes it back-to-back games with goals from the left-back spot. And just prior to that, I will say Raphinha, he had already done the hard work of constricting that back line. Then Rodri keeps possession. Lamine Yamal drags two with him. He plays it quickly on the ground to Cancelo, does Lamine Yamal. And Racing's Fernando is too slow to come out to Cancelo. It's just a really fine shot from the Portuguese wing-back. Perfect placement, a bunch of power, and Barcelona off and running again. So much of the attack early came down Barcelona's left side for about the first 25-30 minutes of the game. And even though it was only coming down that one side, that's because again so much of the pressure and the attention was on Lamine Yamal. There was double teams, sometimes triple teams with that 5-3-2 with a left center-back and one of those in that middle three wall step to Lamin Yamal. And so that means if he can move that ball quickly to the other side, it was Adigame, it was Cancelo, two guys who like to go 1 v 1. So just keep going with that formula. That's what you saw a lot of Barcelona doing. They paired that with pressing Racing Santander nice and high inside their own box. And for the poor visitors from Cantabria, it was hard getting out of their own half. Headline two is off to the races. Let's talk about some more goals here. Barcelona with their second coming to 22nd minute, earning a penalty. But was Raphinha offside? That's the question. Well, VAR answered it. They said no. It was Pedri through the middle, right to Raphinha. What a dangerous combination that is becoming this season. And Raphinha with good strength, too. You worry when you have a winger in the middle, is he going to have good strength? Well, so far, at least, he has had exactly what you need from a sturdy, powerful lower body in a man that's about to be 30 with that grown man strength. He holds off Pedro Felipe. He's pulled down from behind by Pedro Felipe. Some are calling for the red card. Due to this match ending 7-2, I guess it's fine that it was a yellow. He's pulled down from behind and VAR takes a look. They say that he is onside and it's just a yellow card. That's what stands. So Raphinha takes the penalty himself, getting the keeper to go the wrong way, leaving no doubt. But 8 minutes later, Racing Santander would not, at that point at least, lie down and show their bellies. In the 30th, it's the 2-1. I'd say it's a well drawn up goal by Racing Santander in transition. A lot had to go right with all of this run as well in the counter. But Barcelona should have done better. This is the one counterattack goal that Barcelonistas give up every game. But obviously the pundits are saying, "Hey, when you're against the best of the best in Europe, this is inexcusable. And even if you win 3-1 against them, it's just not going to happen. And I'd rather do that. I'd rather complain about Barcelona than give credit to the opposition." It's Racing Santander from their own end. Gueye beats everybody in the build-up. It starts with Rodri getting bypassed by Gueye, who passes and then moves around the Spanish midfielder. Eric then misses a tackle, so now we've already got two oopsie daisies in space in behind. Cancelo and Pedri were then put in a 2v2 defending situation with Villa Libre and Guaye. The late arriving run, a little bit of good fortune too from Cancelo's non-tackle, and it's Guaye who's able to finish past Juan Garcia for another counter-attacking goal that Barcelona has now conceded this season. Headline three is too much pressure. Fortunately for the Catalans, they have a way answering the call this season. There were years past when you felt like the mentality wasn't right. Barcelona were already up 2-1 in this game. It's not like they were requiring a major reaction, but they got one anyway. Just a few minutes later in the 36th, it's to 3-1 from a corner for Barcelona. They play it short, Racing brings all 10 behind the ball defending, and yet of those 10 guys, nobody steps to Cancelo. Pedri lets the ball run through to him to change the angle for Cancelo, and he has enough time even to set himself up with a touch. Blasted again, and the deflection works out for him to beat the keeper. Unfortunately, it's an own goal, so Cancelo does not get credit for the brace. Instead, it's an own goal for Villa Libre, and yeah, it's a bummer for him, but for Barcelona, they're now 3-1. Did I say 3-1? Let's jump ahead. It's 4-1 in the 42nd minute. Barca's pressing as a unit, so this is the pressing goal that we've been talking about that Barcelona is building to. Racing got through that first line of pressure, but they were forced to recycle it. And this is one of those Rodri doesn't get credit on the scoresheet, nothing like that, but at that base, even if you bypass that front attack, we talk about how important they are in the press. Rodri's sitting right behind to then pick up the scraps, and that's what he does here. An interception, and then Barcelona back off the races. Almo and Adeyemi from the right, and one run from Adeyemi moves Racing enough to give up passing lane to Raphinha running inside the center-back, giving up that inside position we've already seen teams do with this season for Raphinha. Can't happen, so he handles it, does Raphinha, and the bouncing ball goes across the keeper. It was a tough finish due to the wet conditions and the ball bouncing, but Raphinha is seeing nothing but a wide-open net at this point. It is all nylon for him right now. In the 45th minute, it could have been the fifth goal already. It was a PK for Barcelona, their second of three of the match. Adeyemi wins the PK. He lets the ball run across him, and Pedri Felipe, a really tough day for him in the office. He comes crashing in to bring him down. Unfortunately, Lamine Yamal doesn't take the best PK, and it's easily saved by the keeper. Pedri Felipe, I'll also say, when I say bad day at the office, sure, it's giving up the two PKs, it's getting the yellow, but it looks like he also did his hamstring in the second half. Again, just an all-around frustrating day for him. And after missing the PK, Lamine Yamal also picked up a yellow to boot. So, for him, a frustrating at least 5-minute spell. And for the youngster, that's about the only 5 to 10 minutes where I think he was frustrated at all in this match. Headline forwards out of retirement. No, I'm joking. I really mean off the bench, so out of bench retirement, which is where I thought the tech was going. At halftime, it is Szczesny coming on for Juan Garcia, who looked like he did slip and pick up a little knock. Hopefully, it's just precautionary, because you're going to need that goalkeeper healthy. It is interesting, and maybe at this point, Hansi Flick has already mentioned in his postgame why it was tech and not Livaković, but either way, tech gets his opportunity. Again, dusting off the cobwebs as he was probably enjoying his time on the bench. 51st minute, it's Raphinha helping Lamine Yamal hit the post by making a run straight through the middle. He doesn't have to sprint, but Raphinha chooses to. He's the one that began this counterattack with the long ball forward for Lamine Yamal, and that lung-busting run goes straight up through the defense, making that double team hesitate on Lamine Yamal for just a moment. That's enough that Lamine Yamal needs to see of the goal to let it fly. Again, hits the post. 61st minute, some Barcelona substitutions. Pedri and Rodri, so it's a double pivot switch here. For Gavi, good to see him again. And Bernal who continues to see action under Hansi Flick. And that's going to be the challenge. We know when Frenkie de Jong comes back, keeping all these guys happy and healthy. And so far Hansi Flick, because he doesn't have Frenkie de Jong and Brian Farinas of course called up just to kind of sit on the bench as a break glass in case of real midfield emergency. He's sitting on the bench waiting his turn. But for now, it seems like there is a pretty set rotation and hopefully everybody still happy with their minutes. With those changes, and really Gavi is kind of counterintuitive to those changes. But Barcelona as a whole, despite Gavi, were putting in second gear in that second half. And there were some fun moments with Gavi and Lamine Yamal. But I don't also really blame the players either. In that pouring rain with another match this weekend, they were, I think, fairly a bit flat in that second half, or at least the beginning of the second half with the likely three points decided. And the fans at home also were only going to let them get so flat. I will also say, I wrote that note, and then within seconds of me writing that in the 65th minute, Racing Santander were anything but flat on the second goal of the day for them. Well, this is more like Tech was flat, everybody else was kind of just running around in the way in the rain. But Tech gave the goal back. Substitute Zibiri lightly pressures Iñaki Peña Martín, passes back to Tech. This should be pretty routine because it's on his strong side foot anyway. But he winds up misplaying it and he just tries to hold off Zibiri while getting his feet all out of sorts on it. Zibiri scores and it's a bad look from Tech. So, maybe Livaković he has something left to prove or maybe he's not fully fit just yet. But I could see very very quickly in the coming days and weeks Livaković is going to be without question number two. And it'd be unfortunate this is Ter Stegen's last look in a Barcelona shirt. I don't think that's going to be the case, but if it is, he had a lot of good moments. And then headline five is Adeyemi fun and Balde back. I had to fit both of these and you notice that we've got a bunch of goals left to talk about here. It's only 4-2 at this point. but Barcelona, as they did after Racing Santander scored the first goal for them of the game, that flip gets switched and it feels like every goal they do concede, Hansi Flick is going to be yelling at them. So, it feels like unless we score three in retaliation of one, we're going to get a good yelling. And here's number five for Barcelona in the 66th minute right from the kickoff. Barcelona strong side, the right, with numbers and a cutback to Adeyemi. Adeyemi makes a move, gets brought down again, and Raphinha from the PK spot once more does deja vu and gets not only his hat-trick, but his 11th goal of the season already. It's an only Leo Messi kind of history that Raphinha is making if he continues, especially with each passing goal to start this season. Raphinha gets his swan song, getting the applause from the crowd, and Gabriel Jesus immediately comes on for him in what looked to be a pre-planned sub. So, cool, get your hat-trick right before you have to come off. And with Gabriel Jesus coming into the game, that meant that the Barcelona press all around there is no excuse, keep pushing. And they do just that. A turnover from Eric for a throw-in, and Racing with themselves all out of sorts, Lamine Yamal is offside, couldn't come back onside so the goal, at least Lamine Yamal would have to wait. 78th minute, speaking of waiting, Alejandro Balde has been waiting for his turn this season, and he finally gets it coming off for Cancelo. His first appearance of the season and a huge chant from the crowd, and it's good to see for Balde. Also interesting that I think Jorge Salinas on the other side of Racing Santander get a little cameo there with the last about 10 minutes of game time plus stoppage time. I was interested to see what he would look like against Barcelona players, but didn't really get to see too much of it. Pablo Garcia, another player, and that was a whole saga with Real Betis in the closing moments of the transfer window, but also didn't see him. For good reason, I think Racing Santander with that match already so out of hand were just trying to protect their youngsters and not throw them more into the fire. That fire, though, continued to burn for Barcelona because they were not done yet. We still got two goals left to go in the 79th minute. It's Christensen, the dummy from Olmo to Lamine Yamal, who found Gabriel Jesus on the run. It's one-time from the Brazilian and perfectly finds the top corner. Wonderful, as I said in the build-up from Lamine Yamal again. He had a I almost said average game. No, he still had a good game even though it was not a masterclass, a best-in-class from Lamine Yamal. Those are the expectations that he is sitting with. And Lamine Yamal was still good. If he was more clinical, he would have had three more assists and two more goals in this game. 85th minute, speaking of assists, Balde misses out on assist himself to Adeyemi to his left and Adeyemi tried to flick the keeper again. Doesn't work. In the 89th minute, here comes out Lamine Yamal goal for the 7-2. After a tech save late, Adeyemi goes on a huge run. This run is a lot more about Adeyemi than it is even about the finish for Lamine Yamal, but I'm glad that somebody's finally repaying the favors for Lamine. So, that's huge run from Adeyemi goes right through the Racing team. Covers around 55 yards or so, and Adeyemi himself was the one who won the ball in midfield near the sideline and keeps on running no matter who's throwing their bodies at him in the rain. Squares it to Lamine Yamal for the finish, and at least you could see how excited and just that bit of relief that Lamine Yamal was able to poke one in the back of the net today. So, for Barcelona, their path of destruction continues as they continue to lead. I know we're only a few short weeks in. I'm already getting a bit of a pit in my stomach about the international break. It's 3 weeks, hoping everybody stays healthy, and I've got to think of some content to do in between. So, don't worry, I'm working on all that stuff. And in the meantime, meantime, the stuff that was buzzing on social media in the last few days was JJ Gabriel. Who is that, you may ask? Why am I talking about a 15-year-old at Manchester United? Well, it's because he's been linked to Barcelona in the past, and it does appear that Real Madrid is leading the race for him. And I just to predict this nice and early, I know that Barcelona seem to be the club that he and his father have a bit more affection to, but I think Real Madrid, and I don't know why this is, have a better kind of guarantee. They have a lot more turnover in their team from year to year, and obviously Florentino Perez is willing to shell out big money if he says, "Hey, we got to take this big young talent and make sure Barcelona do not get them." He's willing to do that in the past. Why would he not be willing to do that again? There are rumors that there are big commissions being asked for and the like of first-team spot even as soon as next year. But with all of Barcelona's other talent, the C Woo, Hamdi Abdallah Karim, for those who've seen him, I know you say he's what top top top top top talent. I hear you on that. I've been impressed with what I've seen as well, but at 15, I mean, unless he's already there in the Manchester United team, then he wouldn't be leaving at all. So, it is a big risk on a player sounds like big money for a youngster at 15 who still has a bit left to prove in Europe before he's making that jump into the Barcelona first team. But hey, we'll see what happens with Real Madrid, Barcelona, and you know, other teams are obviously in for the youngster as well, and see if Manchester United doesn't look like they're going to fix that relationship, but just want to throw it out there that don't get your hopes up too much cool guys on the name JJ Gabriel. But please do get your hopes up about the Barcelona podcast and the great content that I have planned for the next few weeks, including continuing to do all these five headlines and enjoying how Barcelona has started this season. It is one of the most enjoyable starts to a year, at least the first month or so, that maybe I've had in the nine and a half years doing this. Pretty great stuff. So, without further ado, I'll see you next time for Barca talk.