Against an opponent that was not considered too difficult, Robert Lewandowski and his teammates had to fight hard at many times on the away field. One of the home team's attacks in the first half was concretized by Unai Lopez's opening goal in the 9th minute.
During the remainder of the first half, Barcelona could not score. Worry began to appear on the faces of the Cules in the De Vallecas stands. In the second half, it took until the 60th minute for Pedri to equalize the score. However, Barca wants to win away from home, not draw. Therefore, captain Hansi Flick decided to let rookie Dani Olmo play. In the end, it was right.
In the 83rd minute, a smart low shot from Olmo was just enough for the "Catalan giant" to win their third consecutive match in La Liga. From the beginning of the season until now, they are the only team to collect 9 absolute points.
The match against Rayo Vallecano was Olmo's chance to show that he was still fine. A few days ago, the Spanish striker complained about not being registered for a long time. There were even rumors in Catalan news sites that Olmo would leave Barca just one week after being announced as a new player by the club.
However, Andreas Christensen's injury opened up an opportunity for Dani Olmo. The Camp Nou team temporarily put aside the salary and benefits for Christensen while the midfielder recovers. From now until then, they must also find a way to register Olmo for a long time, regardless of whether Christensen plays or not.
It is expected that if a plan to register Olmo is not found soon, Barca will be forced to remove this midfielder from the squad when the winter market begins. However, that is a matter of 4 months in the future. Right now, fans of the Camp Nou home team are only thinking about whether Olmo will play or not and how to play.
Before the 26-year-old midfielder came on the field, Barca played quite hard. Even though they still passed and controlled the ball a lot, the away team was not effective. The EURO 2024 effect remained when Olmo came on the field and motivated his teammates Lamine Yamal and Pedri.
With the role of "number 10" to replace the lackluster Ferran Torres, right from the first ball, Olmo entered the penalty area and almost brought a penalty to Barcelona. A few minutes later, the midfielder hit the crossbar before scoring in the 83rd minute to bring 3 points to the home team. From entering the field until the end of the match, Olmo had 39 touches of the ball and passed exactly 21 times with an accuracy of 84%. Besides, he also had 2 successful dribbles.
On the training bench, Hansi Flick looked clearly satisfied. Dani Olmo is a versatile player who can play many positions, but the "number 10" role is still what Flick looks forward to the most. Finally, the German teacher could rest assured.
"When Olmo was put on the field, everyone could see that Barcelona controlled the ball much better. His ability to hold the ball in front of the opponent's penalty area was excellent. Not only that, Olmo could also score. "For a simple midfielder, that's a rare thing and Olmo is very good at doing things like that" - Flick shared.
