Barcelona ground along to a 0-0 draw against Getafe in their La Liga opener, much in the same fashion as they did last season against Rayo Vallecano. However there were one or two positives to come out of a deeply frustrating night.
Frenkie de Jong was a force for good in the second half, while Jules Kounde reminded fans just how valuable he is in central defence rather than at right-back.
Perhaps the largest positive was Lamine Yamal. The 16-year-old forward was thrown on by Xavi Hernandez for the final 14 minutes, and was a constant threat for the Blaugrana in a way that no other player was.
During that time he managed 16 touches, completed all 9 of his passes, made one key pass, a tackle and won one duel of his two. Granted he lost possession on six occasions, three of which were crosses, but that was in part down to him trying to force the issue.
He also created a big chance, Barcelona’s best of the match, lifting the ball over the defence for Ansu Fati, who blazed over. Perhaps the number that most illustrates his quality is the fact that only Ronald Araujo (0.46) had a higher expected assists value than Yamal (0.11), as per Sofascore. Yamal’s figure is not high, but outstripping the rest of his teammates in just 14 minutes is rather impressive.
Sport also point out that Yamal was called on before the likes of Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres, showing just how much trust Xavi has in him.
While most are trying carefully not to precipitate their excitement over the 16-year-old, there is no doubt that he appears to have a speed of thought and movement that makes him unpredictable for defenders. No other player in the Barcelona attack has that combination of talents, and it would be no surprise if Yamal continued to see minutes under Xavi.