Barcelona returned from the international break having picked up exactly where they left off after their perfect first month, remaining the only team in Spain with a 100% winning record thanks to their fifth straight win and a 4-1 dominance over local rivals Girona in Sunday’s derby. Montilivi Stadium. Hansi Flick’s side were once again the better team from start to finish, scoring some great goals to pick up three more points on the road and continue their incredible start to the season.

FIRST HALF

Barça dominated the first 40 minutes of the opening phase with fantastic work with and without possession. Barcelona were quick, precise and unpredictable in their passing and movements, and without these qualities they never stopped applying pressure and forcing Girona to repeatedly play hopeless long balls.

Hansi Flick’s side had plenty of shots on goal and forced Paulo Gazzaniga into some good saves early on. Their constant pressure eventually gave them the lead: after a short goal kick from Girona, centre-back David López came under pressure and was dispossessed by Lamine Yamal, who took the ball from him and scored from close range, putting Barça in front after half an hour.

Seven minutes later, the second goal was scored: Raphinha’s free kick was poorly defended by the Girona defence and Yamal took advantage of the rebound with a wonderful curling shot into the bottom corner, doubling the Barcelona Lead. The visitors had the game fully under control and it seemed as if they would build up a two-goal lead at half-time.

But Girona finally woke up in the last five minutes of the half and had two huge chances to get back into the game: the first was a one-on-one chance from Bryan Gil that Marc-André ter Stegen had to make a sensational save to deny, and the second was an obvious penalty for a handball against Iñigo Martínez.

However, the VAR intervened and asked the referee to look at the screen. The referee could see that Alejandro Balde had headed the ball onto Iñigo’s arm from close range, which is not a penalty under the handball rule. The decision was overturned and Barça went into halftime with a two-goal lead.

In the break Barcelona were deservedly in the lead after a sensational opening phase, but the last five minutes showed that Girona had not yet lost their momentum and would apply pressure in the second half to get back into the game.

SECOND HALF

But before Girona could attempt a comeback, Barça dealt them a fatal blow: just 75 seconds into the second half, Jules Kounde played a fantastic pass over the bar with his weaker left foot, which found the ball in the path of Dani Olmo, who then fired a rocket shot into the net from an impossible angle and increased Barça’s lead three times in spectacular fashion.

Girona continued to try to attack and score in the minutes after conceding their third goal, while Barça retreated and created chances on the counterattack. They did so time and time again, with both Robert Lewandowski and Yamal missing several opportunities to extend Barça’s lead before we even reached the 60th minute.

But they didn’t have to wait long for the fourth goal: an absolutely OUTRAGEOUS through ball from Marc Casadó found Pedri completely alone in the penalty area, and the magician dribbled around the goalkeeper before joining the top scorer’s cannon and thus finally deciding the game.

Hansi Flick then made changes to rest some of his regular players and Barça’s tempo naturally slowed as they focused on running down the clock and conceding a clean goal to secure the win comfortably. However, they could not prevent that as Portu got behind the defence and found Cristhian Stuani who was able to slot the ball in easily to give the home fans some consolation.

Girona got a little extra boost at the end when Ferran Torres was shown the red card for a foul on Yáser Asprilla that did not deserve a red card, but the Barcelona still had to finish the game with 10 men. Things got rough and physical in the final seconds as Girona started to give a little more in their tackles and Flick cleverly substituted Yamal to avoid an unnecessary injury or sending off for the teenager.

The final whistle brought to an end another glorious afternoon for Flick’s side, who had lost none of their momentum from August and returned from the international break with the same hunger, intensity and organisation that we had seen in the first four games. Girona were expected to pose a real challenge, but Barça never let them get into the game and cruised effortlessly to another impressive win.

It’s a great pleasure to watch this team at the moment.

The old town of Girona: Gazzaniga; Francés (Arnau 85′), López, Blind, Miguel; Martin, Solis; Gil (Asprilla 55′), Tsigankov (Van de Beek 69′), Danjuma (Portu 55′); Ruiz (Stuani 69′)

Goal: Stuani (80th minute)

Barcelona: ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí (Fort 61′), Iñigo, Balde; Olmo (Eric 61′), Casadó, Pedri (Víctor 69′); Yamal (Martín 90+2′), Lewandowski (Ferran 69′), Raphinha

Goals: Jamal (30th, 37th), Olmo (47th), Pedri (64th)

Red card: Ferran (86′)