Barcelona won 1-0 last season and this season it seems that the defending champions are getting used to resolving their matches at the end. The goals were made to wait against a defensive Cádiz and as in Gamper, when they went back to Tottenham, it was in the last ten minutes that the jar of essences was uncovered. Montjuïc is prone to epic in the heat of August. Pedri and Ferran Torres certified the victory, the first for the blaugrana in the League, in the decisive stretch of a duel where the electricity of the teenager Lamine Yamal rebelled against the flattened and slow pace of the game, with more chances than good play.
Xavi sensed that his team would have a lot of ball control, that Cádiz would wait behind and Barça would easily settle in the opposite field. Hence, he made an eleven with only three pure defenses and with Frenkie de Jong as center back. The Dutchman, who already finished there at the Getafe Coliseum, was one of the three players who closed, along with Christensen and Koundé, while Balde gained flight on the left.
On the right, the statement could not have been clearer. He placed Lamine Yamal, a 16-year-old footballer, ahead of Ansu Fati or Ferran Torres, who did not play on the first day and who entered against Cádiz once the wall had been knocked down with 1-0 to score 2 -0.
The left-handed winger has that special ability that makes the world forget his ID when he has the ball. The teenager is cheeky and it seems that he doesn't even flinch, he just has fun breaking lives with his slippery game. Javi Hernández had to do everything he could to prevent the youth squad from photographing him more than once. The first time he faced him inside the box, Lamine Yamal would have been gone had it not been for a slight but necessary push from the defender that sent him to the ground. The boy was immediately surrounded by three Cadista players to mark territory because they saw that the cracks in the visitor's resistance plan could come from there.
The young forward is not going to bluff because Gavi and Lewandowski looked for him and he, wide open, understood when it was time to take risks and try to dribble and when it was necessary to secure. The danger for Barça was the inmates of the beardless, who raised the public from their seats as if he were an Olympic sprinter. But Ledesma, with his hammer throwing arms, began to thwart all the Blaugrana shots. It was an exercise in helplessness. Pedri and Lewandowski, both with their heads, couldn't beat the Cádiz goalkeeper, who excelled in a second-line arrival from Koundé.
Even Lamine Yamal fell into Ledesma's networks. Javi Hernández fell asleep in the area and the wonder boy, more awake, took the ball. In time, he searched for a lovely thread to the long post but the keeper reached to deflect the ball with his fingertips when he was almost outmatched. The stands of Lluís Companys lamented. And he yelled "ouch" again when Roger ran into the Barça area after taking advantage of a disconnection from Balde. But with everything going for it, the Cadiz striker couldn't beat Ter Stegen, who held on, didn't get nervous and put out a saving right hand when they wanted to chip the ball from above.
Even from a foul, forbidden and unknown territory for Barça since Messi left, Gündogan tried on the edge of the break but there was no way.
Barça continued with that 3-4-3 striking but defenders and yellow bodies appeared in the area to clear, divert and block any attempt. When Pedri thought that De Jong had left him alone, he found himself behind with a fast Fali. Romeu finished off at the turn but hit San Emeterio. It was almost like a game of bowls without ever reaching full. And when no Cádiz player arrived, it was the crossbar that deprived Gavi of the goal in a header from a corner.
Barcelona overturned and that was a breeding ground for a counterattack from their rival. And Chris Ramos, Roger and Alcaraz seized the invitation to catch the Blaugrana defense in a three against two but they were unable to resolve it successfully.
As Lamine Yamal was so intoxicated, Xavi did not dare to remove him from the pitch. The entry of Abde and Ansu Fati added more threats for a Barça for which the minutes were falling and that could not find the lost goal against a serious Cádiz, who stood up.
But Barça's insistence did not go without a prize. Pedri found it, who had to finish off with his soul with eight minutes to go. Gundogan, with that game between the lines that Xavi missed last season, filtered a great pass with the outside and the canary had to stretch, throwing himself onto the grass, to touch the ball and score the first goal of the League for Barcelona. Montjuïc celebrated it in style, just like the 2-0 win for Ferran Torres, substitute for Lamine Yamal, in a quick transition in added time. Barça had the last laugh in an evening in which they learned that victories cost more at Montjuïc than at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Koundé, Christensen (Eric Garcia 79), De Jong, Balde (Ansu Fati 68), Oriol Romeu (S. Roberto 79), Pedri, Gündogan, Lamine Yamal (Ferran Torres 85), Gavi (Abde 68) y Lewandowski
Coach: Xavi Hernández
Cádiz: Ledesma, Iza, Luis Hernández, Fali, Javi Hernández, Iván Alejo (D. Machís 68), Rubén Alcaraz, San Emeterio (Nephew 68), Alex Fernández (Negredo 86), Roger (Jose Mari 86) and Chris Ramos ( Osmajic 86)
Coach: Sergio González
Stadium: Olímpic Lluís Companys (39,603 spectators)
Referee: Muñiz Ruiz (c. Galician)
Cards: Yellow cards for Iván Alejo, Frenkie de Jong, Ter Stegen, San Emeterio, Gavi, Pedri, J. Hernández
Goals: 1-0 Pedri (82), 2-0 Ferran Torres (94)
