Gavi scores twice in 5-0 Barcelona drubbing of Daegu originally appeared on The Sporting News
Barcelona sent a clear message with its 5-0 victory over Daegu FC, one that emphasizes the club’s crucial youth contributions en route to defending the La Liga crown.
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With fireworks exploding at kickoff, both Barca and Daegu took the field, though the latter wasted little time in registering the contest’s first threatening attempt. Starting at centerback, Gerard Martin was caught out for a Daegu breakaway in the 2nd minute, but FCB goalkeeper Joan Garcia was up to the task with a clever kick to deflect the effort.
Throughout the first half, Lamine Yamal continued his superb form as he caused a wealth of problems for the Daegu defense. And while Yamal did not find the scoresheet, the 18-year old Spanish winger showcased adept passing, trivela through ball included, as he found space on the edge with regularity thanks in no small part to his suddenness and technical on-ball skills.
Days after drawing praise from Barca manager Hansi Flick, Gavi opened up the scoring midway through the first half. In the 21st minute, Gavi caught the Daegu keeper leaning the wrong way and fired a hard shot into the net from outside the box for a 1-0 Barcelona lead. Later in the half, Gavi sped up to receive a through ball from Jules Kounde then chipped the ball over the keeper in stoppage time to give Barca a resounding 3-0 lead at the break. In between those two goals, Robert Lewandowski poked home a clean goal from Martin’s cross in the 27th minute.
At the break, Barcelona switched up its lineup as expected in order to give each senior player a fair distribution of minutes throughout the pre-season. As such, new arrival loanee Marcus Rashford was positioned at the top of the formation to smooth over a few lineup difficulties, and the Englishmen delivered slick buildup play that ultimately led to a Toni Fernandez goal in the 55th minute. Shortly thereafter, Rashford firmly announced his arrival as he slammed a one-time shot into the back of the net, giving Barcelona a 5-0 lead for his first goal with Spanish side.
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Before the wet, rain-filled contest was over, Pedri and Dani Olmo both tested the Daegu keeper before regular time expired but Han Tae-hiu was up to the task on both attempts.
After the match, Flick offered a reserved evaluation of Barca’s pre-season tour across Asia.
“For us, the most important thing is that we’ve been able to train well,” Flick told the press. “We saw what we wanted to see. These have been good tests.”
Barcelona will next take the pitch on Aug. 10 against Como.
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