Lamine Yamal's art and graft sparks Barcelona's most impressive ...

We have given plenty of praise to Lamine Yamal’s craft over the past month, but it was his graft that sparked Barcelona into a brilliant 4-1 away win against Girona on Sunday.

The key moment came in the 30th minute, when Yamal rushed Girona defender David Lopez as he tried to build out from the back. Having won the ball, Yamal spun on goal with just the ’keeper to beat. The match was still scoreless, and next to him was Robert Lewandowski — waiting for the easiest of tap-ins.

What Yamal did next can be understood as another evolution of his profile. He is no longer simply the latest young star to emerge from La Masia, Barca’s famed academy. He is their go-to figure on and off the pitch, a 17-year-old who naturally ignored the veteran striker beside him in that moment because he has more than earned the right to take the shot on himself.

His confident finish set up a riotous victory — against fellow Catalans who humbled them twice in last season’s meetings — with Yamal again the star of the party. He scored his second seven minutes later, curling home a loose ball from the edge of the box.

We were all impressed by Yamal’s brilliant performances as Spain won the European Championship in the summer and the start of this season has seen him hit the ground still running. He has been involved in seven goals (scoring three, assisting four) in Barca’s five La Liga games. Across Europe’s top five leagues, only Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has better figures with his nine goals scored (in four matches).

Yamal is not just a collection of sparks. There’s consistent production in his game now — and there’s hard work, too. Barcelona have registered the highest number of final-third possession turnovers in La Liga so far this term, with 30. Yamal has contributed eight of those — no player in the competition has more.

We’re still seeing the grace, skill and trickery, but now he’s also making the difference with his off-the-ball actions, like the pressure for that opening goal here. It had Barcelona manager Hansi Flick punching the air.

“Lamine normally gives the last pass, and I’m very pleased by that too of course, but today I was especially satisfied by seeing him taking the chances and scoring,” Flick said in his press conference after the game.

There were plenty of reasons for the German to be smiling on Sunday evening.

He and his side passed what was arguably their biggest test together since he took over in the summer — a Catalan derby that last season was traumatic for fans, with Girona scoring eight goals in two 4-2 victories that were critical in deciding predecessor Xavi’s future.

“Barcelona were clearly the better team,” said Girona coach Michel. “We did not find a way out to this high pressure they do with both wingers closing inside and attacking the centre-backs.”

Yamal made the difference, but if someone else deserves a special mention it is his team-mate Pedri.

The 21-year-old is going through his best spell in three years (some might even say his best at Barca, full stop). The way in which he has bossed every midfield he’s been a part of this season has been remarkable. Against Girona, he scored to make it 4-0 just after the hour, but he also recovered the ball 11 times. Over the previous two seasons, he’s averaged just below four ball recoveries per game.

From a physical perspective, he looks fantastic. Having missed more than 80 games over the previous three seasons with a variety of ailments, Pedri has played in every game of this one so far after being presented with a special training plan focused on strength, to protect him from further muscle injury.

He dribbled past ’keeper Paulo Gazzaniga to score his goal, then ran to the touchline to hug Flick. “Pedri told me he would score just before the game, so that’s why he came to me I guess,” said the Barca manager.

Then there’s the case of Marc Casado, another La Masia product who was not given a decent chance under Xavi last season but has now turned into a perfect solution in midfield. The 21-year-old does not make football too complicated, playing it simple. But he understands the game and delivers holding and attacking roles whenever the team requires.

A 4-2 defeat at Girona’s Montilivi stadium near the end of last season convinced club president Joan Laporta to reconsider Xavi’s position and he was eventually sacked. Four months later, in that same location, Flick settled a score with local rivals while showing the strongest signs yet that this really is a refreshed Barcelona — despite the team having made just one significant summer addition in Dani Olmo.

An injury to Olmo was the only dark side to what was an almost perfect win.

The Spain international, who scored his third goal in three games in a Barca shirt to put the away side 3-0 up early in the second half, was taken off the pitch with a hamstring injury around the hour mark. Flick confirmed he will undergo more tests in the coming days but club sources expect the injury won’t be too serious, though he is very likely to miss Thursday’s Champions League opener away against Monaco of France’s Ligue 1.

This will be a long season, and there will be bumps in the road. But the first glimpses of the new Barca have been enough to excite fans — and it is easy to see why.

After early-season expectations dominated by talk of Real Madrid’s latest galacticos line-up, Flick’s side are the best team in La Liga by a distance right now.

(Top photo: Joan Valls/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Pol joined The Athletic in 2021, initially moving to Manchester to assist us with our Manchester City, Manchester United and Spanish reporting. Since 2015 he has been an English football correspondent for multiple Spanish media, such as Diario Sport and RAC1 radio station. He has also worked for The Times. In 2019, he co-wrote the book Pep’s City: The Making of a Superteam. He will now move back to Spain, covering FC Barcelona for The Athletic. Follow Pol on Twitter @polballus