Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick was full of praise for teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal after his brace helped the Blaugrana secure a dominant 4-1 win over Girona on Sunday, Soccernet.football reports.
Yamal played a huge role at the Estadi Municipal de Montilivi as Barcelona maintained their perfect start under Flick. The 17-year-old winger grabbed two first-half goals to put his side in control before the break.
Afterwards, Dani Olmo and Pedri added second-half goals to seal the win for Barca just after the hour mark. Christian Stuani’s late consolation strike and Ferran Torres’ sending off also spiced up an eventful second 45 minutes.
Giving his thoughts after a well deserved win, Flick told Movistar Plus; “I’m very happy about Lamine’s two goals, he’s very young, but he’s really incredible, a difference maker at such a young age.”
“Having him is key for us not only because of his quality, but he also presses very well high. He combines talent and pressure and that’s massive for us. He is outstanding.
“It was a tough game. Girona played well, but we started very well too, and we deserved to win.”
Following this victory over their Catalan rivals, Barcelona maintain their place on top of the La Liga table, with a four point cushion over their closest challengers Real Madrid and Villareal.
Looking ahead to their Champions League match-up away at Monaco on Thursday, the Blaugrana boss will be hoping his side can replicate their domestic form on the continental stage.
“We have trained very hard for this, and we need to keep going. This last week we have prepared well, but we do it for every game we play because we always want to win, we are in a good moment, and we can’t stop,” Flick added.
“It won’t be easy against Monaco, but we’re taking it one game at a time, and we’re really excited. We’re all looking forward to it.”