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barça divine

@barca_divine

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Hi, I’m Shahraiz — Professional football writer & graphic designer analysing FC Barcelona.

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Barça bossed Galatasaray at one of the most hostile venues in European football. Here are my ratings from our 4-1 win. by @barca_divine

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4 days ago

Even in the devil’s own backyard, Barça had no intention of dancing to his tune.

The opening half-hour was an open contest, with Barça lacking their usual influence in midfield, partly owing to Xavi Espart’s absence and Dani Olmo’s inability to anchor as a 9. To compensate for the cracks in the middle, Pedri took matters into his own hands. He carried the ball forward, switched play, picked out runners and pirouetted past opponents with the grace of a dancer in glass slippers, just as he did so effortlessly in 2022.

Barça were the better side, but it did not reflect on the score-sheet. They were dragged into direct football, which left the door open for Galatasaray to pounce on the counter. Following a foul on Gordon, the hosts capitalised on one of their rare forays forward to break the deadlock. Eric Garcia was beaten far too easily in the 1v1, and Rodri was too slow to recover.

The turning point came in the 40th minute, when Pedri pleaded his teammates to calm down following a disallowed goal. Barça’s possession losses dropped from 31 in the opening 40 minutes to just two between the 40th and 47th minutes. This newfound control was visible in the structure, as Rodri stepped forward to compress spaces between the lines. Two minutes later, Cancelo capped the improvement by firing home the equaliser.

Barça carried their confidence into the second half, with Lamine Yamal picking the mantle from Pedri to tear Galatasaray apart. One of his many key passes found Fermin Lopez, who steered a header home, before Anthony Gordon finally made amends for his earlier misses to make it 3-1. The latter owed much to Yamal, who seemed to invent a new move on the spot: the rabona cut.

Lemina could hardly have picked a worse way to motivate Yamal than by trying to get under his skin before kick-off. The teenager responded producing a masterclass. He once again had his fingerprints over the fourth goal which was scored emphatically by Karim Adeyemi.

Barça are unlikely to have experienced an atmosphere quite as deafening as the wall of whistles unleashed tonight, but they left the Turkish hell having silenced it in the only way that matters: by playing on their own terms. by @barca_divine

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5 days ago

A Barça side barely out of second gear swept Getafe aside.

This was one of the team’s most comfortable performances against a low block. Beyond the final ball and finishing, Barça consistently found the free man between the lines, with Gavi, Gordon and Espart’s movements proving particularly useful in disrupting Getafe’s defensive structure.

Despite Pedri and several other key starters being absent, Barça’s lack of chemistry never became an issue because of the control Rodri brought to the team in and out possession. He set a new record for the most successful passes in La Liga this season (121) in just 70 minutes.

Gavi was supremely active in the left half-space, as he thrived on the platform Rodri provided. His runs, spatial awareness and combination play, kept Barça’s circulation ticking.

The midfielder also played a part in the opener by initiating the move that eventually led to Anthony Gordon’s first goal of the season.

The Englishman carried his confidence from a successful international break straight into this performance. Thanks to some sharp footwork, he evaded several defenders before getting his shot away, with a deflection helping the effort find the back of the net.

Gordon’s opener was followed by Gabriel Jesus’ strike in the 30th minute, after Getafe’s attempt to play out too intricately inside their own box backfired. Jesus pounced on the turnover and, with wonderfully nimble feet, produced a superb finish. From that angle and under those circumstances, he directed the ball against the goalkeeper’s momentum and left him rooted to the spot.

After several more spells of controlled possession, Jules Kounde put the icing on the cake. Lamine Yamal picked out the Frenchman with a sumptuous ball over the top, leaving him unmarked to slot home a simple tap-in and seal a comfortable 3-0 victory for Barça.

For the first time since Hansi Flick’s arrival, Barça’s squad depth is beginning to look actually promising. Missing several key starters no longer seems to automatically translate into a drop in performance levels, and the ease with which Getafe were defeated was the clearest sign yet. by @barca_divine

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8 days ago

Just as mortality gives life its meaning, melancholy is the price we pay for having seen the impossible.

Messi meant different things to different people. His retirement feels so personal, yet something that connects all of us.

The reason most of us got into football, the streak of sunshine on our rainy days. Messi was the everlasting pill who made the rest of the world look as if it was made in greyscale.

International football lost its biggest source of vibrancy today, but the colour Leo brought into our lives will remain long after he has left the pitch.

The nights we sacrificed to watch him play, the goals we screamed ourselves hoarse celebrating, the magical moments we replayed until we knew them by heart. We’ll never get that back again, but that does not make us wish we had never lived them.

If anything, their ending makes us cherish them more. We would never trade the pain of saying goodbye for a life in which we had never experienced them.

You never knew me by name, but the best part about my life was crossing paths with you, Leo. Gracias. by @barca_divine

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11 days ago

Barcelona have gone from having no options on the left wing to possessing two genuinely elite ones. In this post, I break down the battle between Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi and discuss who has the stronger case to start. by @barca_divine

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21 days ago

Barcelona faced their toughest test of the season in hostile territory, but came out with all three points thanks to yet another hat-trick by Raphinha.

Here are my ratings from the 3-1 victory over Sevilla. by @barca_divine

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a month ago

Barcelona had to work for this one.

Sevilla gave us arguably our toughest test of the season, pressing aggressively from the opening whistle and making it extremely difficult for us to establish our usual control. Their man-to-man approach disrupted our build-up, forced rushed decisions and, for large parts of the first half, left us unable to progress the ball.

The biggest adjustment came after the break. Rather than repeatedly trying to play through Sevilla’s pressure, Barcelona became more direct and attacked the space behind their defensive line. That completely changed the dynamic of the game. Sevilla were eventually forced deeper, which gave us more time in possession and allowed us to dictate the match.

And once Barcelona found that rhythm, Raphinha took over.

His hat-trick takes him to 12 LaLiga goals in 2026/27, already surpassing Lionel Messi’s 11 goals for Barcelona during this stage in LaLiga during the 2017/18 season.

Aside from the ridiculous finishing, Raphinha’s movement has become immensely difficult to defend. His ability to time runs behind the defensive line, attack space and remain composed when chances arrive is genuinely elite. Calling him a “makeshift striker” at this stage doesn’t really do justice to how naturally he is performing the role.

Lamine Yamal was equally important to the turnaround. After being heavily whistled during a frustrating first half, he responded in the best possible way, producing two assists for Raphinha.

There are still things to take from this, though. The left side lacked any influence. Gordon and Cancelo need to offer more consistently, particularly when opponents successfully overload the opposite side.

Pedri also had an unusually quiet opening 45 minutes, with Xavi Espart’s exclusion impacting his game quite a bit. With players like Fermin, Raphinha and Gordon capable of attacking space at speed, there is much more Barcelona can extract from those runs.

Ultimately, though, this was an important victory. A difficult test, but a strong response from this Barcelona side. by @barca_divine

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a month ago

Barcelona have won all seven games and scored 33 goals to start the season - officially the greatest start to a campaign in club history.

Here are my ratings from the 7-2 thrashing over Racing Santander. by @barca_divine

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a month ago

A deluge of goals to go with the deluge at Camp Nou.

What is becoming increasingly clear is that Barça have almost two starting XIs at their disposal. Even with a heavily rotated side against Racing Santander, there was barely any visible drop-off in quality. If anything, the opposite was true.

Cancelo opened the scoring with a phenomenal strike from range. Lamine’s movement dragged multiple defenders towards his flank, leaving Cancelo with acres of space to line up his effort. The shot crashed off the crossbar, bounced down and crossed the line.

In the 25th minute, Pedri played a gorgeous through ball into Raphinha’s run in behind — a familiar pattern between the two this season. Raphinha was brought down inside the box and won a penalty, before dispatching it with a low, driven effort into the bottom corner.

Gueye brought the visitors 2-1 after Barça’s defence was caught napping. Gerard Martin’s positioning played the forward onside, while Cancelo was caught standing idle, allowing the attacker a free run through on goal.

Cancelo quickly made amends for his mistake with another long-range effort, this time helped by a deflection that left the goalkeeper helpless. Soon after, Raphinha extended the lead with two wonderfully composed touches: first cushioning the ball onto his left foot, then using the second to finish into the far post.

Another penalty fell Barça’s way later on, but Lamine Yamal could only scuff his effort from the spot.

Unlike against Levante, Barça never completely took their foot off the gas in the second half. They did concede again, with Szczesny fumbling the ball and gifting the visitors an open net, but the overall level remained high despite the lapse.

A third penalty soon fell Barça’s way, with Raphinha making no mistake from the spot to complete his hat-trick. Jesus then came off the bench to add a sixth and put the result beyond doubt.

Finally, the cherry on top. After countless near misses and a string of unlucky efforts in the second half, Lamine finally got his goal, tapping home from Adeyemi’s pass to cap off a resounding 7-2 victory. by @barca_divine

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a month ago

Barcelona nearly fumbled the win in a nervy second half, but still walked away with all three points against a Levante side that had been unbeaten at home in eight straight games.

Here are my player ratings from the 4-2 victory. by @barca_divine

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a month ago

Barcelona, in baby blue, fell short of another five-goal demolition, but had only their own complacency to blame. The 4-2 win over Levante could have looked far more convincing had Barça maintained the intensity of their opening 30 minutes.

The hierarchy of players is slowly being established. Flick made several changes to the XI, bringing Xavi Espart, Fermin Lopez and Anthony Gordon back into the starting lineup, and the technical level immediately felt different.

Just four minutes in, Espart reminded us why he is essentially a midfielder in a full-back’s body. A well-constructed move built around fluid rotations saw him pop up at LW and fire Barça ahead from the edge of the box.

The rotations continued. Barça moved Levante’s defensive structure from side to side, constantly creating new angles. Levante’s response was to disrupt that rhythm with fouls.

While the Barça of old could easily lose control when games became scrappy, Rodri breathes calm into the team.

At times, he dropped into the right CB position, allowing Barça to form their 3–2–5 while Eric Garcia pushed higher and Lamine moved inside. At other moments, Rodri stepped into midfield, becoming the player through whom Barça could dictate the next phase.

The assertion culminated in a second goal. Cubarsi’s pass broke the Levante press, before Fermin’s carry and well-timed pass released Raphinha. After rounding the goalkeeper, he seemed certain to shoot but instead squared it to Lamine, who tapped home.

Merely minutes after the second half began, Yamal was brought down in the box. He converted to take his tally to 4 La Liga goals.

Following the 3-0 lead, Barça took their foot off the gas, allowing an already vulnerable defence to come under more pressure.

The defence looked sloppy playing out. One loose Espart pass allowed Romero to race through and spoil the clean sheet, while Cubarsi and Bernal were caught napping for Levante’s second.

Fortunately, Adeyemi restored some gloss with a ferocious run from halfway, driving at goal before unleashing a golazo to seal a 4-2 victory in hostile territory. by @barca_divine

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a month ago

Barcelona have scored 22 goals in just five games — the first time they’ve reached that mark since 1950.

Hansi Flick has restored the joy of watching this team play football, and for that alone, he deserves immense credit.

Here are my ratings from another five-goal thrashing. by @barca_divine

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a month ago