Barcelona put an exclamation point on their tremendous end to the season at San Mames on Sunday night with a look to end a title-winning campaign with some style.
Forgetting about the loss to Villarreal last week after the celebrations, the Catalans won 3 – 0 as Robert Lewandowski scored two goals in 6 minutes in the first half, while Dani Olmo finished the scoring late.
After 38 games played and 88 points, Barcelona won the title comfortably in the end, finishing four points ahead of Real Madrid.
Here are the 5 things we learned from the match:
1. Squad Rotation Works:
Hansi Flick rotated three players—Inaki Pena for Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ronaldo Araujo for Inigo Martinez, and Alejandro Balde for Gerard Martin—correctly.
The team was defensively solid and found themselves in a dominant position with a 2-0 lead, showing strength in depth and adaptability, particularly after suffering a loss only a week earlier.
2. Lewandowski’s Clinical Finishing:
Robert Lewandowski scored two goals—a delicate chip for his first goal, and the second, a header from inside the six.
These two goals reinforce Lewandowski’s role as a dependable goal-scorer—and they were his 26th of the season, a feat helped in part by his special ability to profit from well-designed scoring opportunities, even at the age of 36.
3. Effective Build-Up Play:
Barcelona demonstrated their ability to play out from the back to create scoring chances—from Fermin’s ball to Lewandowski’s goal was a great example of the confidence they have in their possession-based approach to attacking play.
Being able to dominate possession in both camps, it’s clear that they have control of the match, despite the difficult environment they were playing in.
4. Positive Defensive Resilience:
Despite an early reprieve for Araujo for failing to control the ball, Barcelona defended well against Athletic Bilbao’s early aggression.
However, the owners will need to have a word with Cubarsi as cutting down on avoidable fouls will help him with cards or past injuries in certain situations.
5. Raphinha’s influence:
Raphinha was finding his voice by making a number of contributions, a perfect pass for Fermin, and a good delivery from a corner for Lewandowski’s second goal.
Raphinha’s ability to create chances for his teammates in wide areas is an advantage to Barcelona.
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