31 minutes, 0-1…
The hitman was Robert Lewandowski, but the provider was a certain Spaniard, the youngest in the FC Barcelona squad, Lamine Yamal.
Like a wizard brandishing his wand, after receiving a pass from Pedri from midfield, from the right, Lamine Yamal went on an unstoppable mazy run.
With a drop of his shoulder, he beat his man before charging inside. More defenders closed him down but with a few body feints, tidy ball shifts, and a la croqueta, he opened up enough space to chip the ball over to a lurking Robert Lewandowski who aligned his positioning with his run.
The Polish striker's positioning was inch-perfect, he was in the right place at the right ti to volley a first-ti shot in.
BAM!
The goalkeeper was rooted to one spot, unable to react to the shot.
It was when Lewandowski was already whirling off in celebration that he reacted, turning and angrily kicking the ball back into his own net.
"What a vintage FC Barcelona goal!" The comntator raved.
"Started by Pedri, created by Lamine Yamal, finished by Robert Lewandowski! What a perfect sequence, just as it should be!"
"Lamine Yamal…, the boy is a wonder of nature!"
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After that goal, onlookers expected Girona to finally give up on their conservative approach, coming out to open the ga up and chase after the equalizer but wary of Barcelona's ability still, Girona remained in their shell.
For the rest of the first half, Barca kept on improving even as Sam finally started growing into the ga, showing his creativity but still, a 2nd goal failed to materialize as the first half ended 0-1 in Barca's favor.
During half-ti, Hansi Flick told his players a few words and quickly sumd it up. "Let's go claim victory!" He declared in Spanish.
FWEEE!
2nd half started and the FC Barcelona domination continued.
Girona continued defending.
'Weird'.
'Weird…, this is so weird'.
As the ga continued, Sam could not help but think this.
All his career, all the way from Enyimba, Sam was used to playing for the underdog team. He was so used to being an underdog that he developed a habit of drawing his energy to create miracles from being underestimated.
When his team's chances were written off, that's when Sam shines.
When his team was underestimated, that is when Zinedine Sam bares his fangs and sink it into enemy flesh with ruthless efficiency.
This was why he felt so weird playing this ga.
Sam was so comfortable.
His team was almost never under pressure in this ga. Barca dominated possession, created the most chances and as the attacking midfielder of this team, he rarely had an opportunity to track back and defend since there was really no need for it.
This was why Sam felt weird. 'I'm not used to this'.
He struggled to motivate himself to do more in this ga.
Even the comntator echoed the thoughts of a lot of spectators today. "Sam has not exactly hit the heights that we expected of him in this ga".
"He's not having a bad ga by any ans, but…, that spark, that energy that premier league fans are used to seeing, this is not it".
"It's almost as if he's lacking the spark today".
"Well, that is to be expected, he's still in his adaptation period. I guess even Sam has to go through an adaptation period".
Sam struggled to play at that extraterrestrial level this ga but FC Barcelona dominated still. In the 56th minute of this ga, Barca scored again.
This ti, it was the electric Pedri again as after wriggling through challenges in midfield, he played an unreal through pass for Raphina to run into as abusing his speed, the Brazilian winger quickly ran ahead of the defenders.
Taking the ball in his strides, he took aim before unleashing a powerful shot, rifling the ball into the roof of the net to make it 0-2 to FC Barcelona.
"GOALLLL…!" The fans celebrated excitedly.
Just 2 minutes later, in the 58th minute, the ga was finally put to bed as Lewandowski struck again, this ti rising high to latch into a perfect Alejandro Balde cross, heading the ball past the Girona goalkeeper and into the net.
With that goal, the outco of this ga beca final.
Girona also lost all montum.
In the 75th minute, Hansi Flick made changes, taking off Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski out of the ga as he introduced Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez to add more energy to the ga.
The outco was that FC Barcelona continued dominating in this ga.
In the 82nd minute, Hansi Flick finally pulled the plug, removing Sam from the ga even as Gavi entered in his stead.
Just 3 minutes after Gavi replaced Sam, Pedri looped a perfect ball above the Girona defense as the energetic Gavi ran into it, taking one touch to raise the ball beyond the goalkeeper's grasp before rifling it into an empty net.
"GOALLLLL…!" Noise erupted again from the away stands as the traveling FC Barcelona fans scread at the top of their lungs in celebration.
85 minutes, 0-4…
For the remaining minutes of this ga, Pedri and Gavi were by a mile the best players in this pitch as they tornted Girona's defense.
The 2 wonderkids kept on creating chances but due to profligacy in front of goal, FC Barcelona was unable to score another goal.
From the bench, Sam watched the reminder of this ga.
"…"
His head was blank.
What was he thinking about? He didn't know.
As a midfielder, he didn't have a bad ga by any ans as he created his fair share of chances. He had a solid ga by all standards but still…, was this the level that he wanted to play at in this club?
Sam could not answer his own questions as he kept watching till the end of this ga.
FC Barcelona won the ga convincingly 0-4.
Pedri won the man of the match award for this ga due to how he controlled the ga, and also due to his 2 unreal assists.
Sam got a good 7.4 rating by the end of the ga, but at the end, there was a question mark in his head.
"…?"
Was this his level?
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