Barcelona vs Osasuna, La Liga: Final Score 2-0, Raphinha scores brace as Barça cruise at home

Barcelona have opened up a seven-point gap at the top of the La Liga standings for at least 24 hours thanks to a comfortable 2-0 win against Osasuna at Camp Nou on Saturday evening. The Blaugrana were dominant from start to finish and should have won by a big margin, but a brace by Raphinha in the second half was enough to seal a seventh consecuvite league victory for Hansi Flick’s troops.

Reactions & Observations

• It’s hard to understand how the first half ended goalless. Barça had a pretty strong penalty shout ignored, a goal disallowed for a strange (but correct) offside call, two really good chances inside the box that Ferran Torres barely missed, and a shot from distance by Eric Garcia that went agonizingly wide.
• Seeing a 0-0 scoreline is certainly frustrating, but Barça’s overall performance was strong. Against a pretty defensive 5-4-1 shape from Osasuna, which is always really hard to attack, the Blaugrana were creative and dangerous with their passing and movement, creating chances through long and short passes, shots from distance, good crosses into dangerous areas, and more. It was a really strong offensive showing that just lacked quality finishing and some luck.
• Despite the strong performance from the team as a whole, Raphinha was nowhere near his best in a central position. Hansi Flick has used the Brazilian in that role a lot since the start of last season, but he is clearly so much better as a left winger and Marcus Rashford did nothing in the first half to justify moving Raphinha away from his best position.
• The start of the second half was just as strong, with a dangerous free-kick by Rashford, a cross by Alejandro Balde that just needed a touch from a Barça player to go in, and several other “almost” moments.
• But it took until the 70th minute for Pedri to run with the ball for 50 yards and find Raphinha in a perfect (central) position to shoot, score and find a much-deserved breakthrough. FINALLY!
• Osasuna tried going forward but didn’t really offer a threat, and Raphinha wraps up the win with the help of an own assist (new stat!) by an Osasuna defender.
• This was a very 5-0 looking 2-0 win. Barça dominated, created more than enough to win this easily, never suffered defensively, and deservedly secured the win. It wasn’t vintage, but it was pretty solid. Seven straight wins in the league, a seven-point lead for at least a day, and the good vibes continue.