Three talking points from Barcelona 4-1 Villarreal as Lamine Yamal scores first ha-trick

Hansi Flick hits 100 in type

Hansi Flick celebrated his one hundredth sport in control of Barcelona towards Villarreal and noticed his gamers do him proud. The Catalan giants ran out 4-1 winners, with Lamine Yamal placing the icing on the cake with a superb hat-trick.

The German coach has loved himself in his first century at Barcelona, profitable each title on supply – bar the Champions League – and profitable 75 of these 100 video games. Solely Luis Enrique has a greater file than Flick at this stage of his Barcelona profession.

“In fact we are able to do higher… however I actually favored what I noticed immediately,” he stated after the match. “We performed nice. Tuesday can be a unique match, however we’ll should play at this stage. We pressed very nicely and really rapidly. We gained our duels. I actually favored what I noticed.”

The Catalans actually put in displaying towards the third finest group in La Liga with a end result that extends their lead on the high of the desk forward of Actual Madrid’s subsequent sport.

Flick was additionally in a position to relaxation some gamers forward of the Atletico conflict, whereas the sight of Pedri approaching and immediately taking management of proceedings was one other welcome sight on a special occasion for the boss.

Lamine Yamal’s hat-trick – the primary of many?

Saturday was additionally a memorable day for Lamine Yamal because the Barcelona star scored his first hat-trick with three glorious objectives towards Villarreal.

In doing so, he added one other file to his quickly rising assortment. You simply know there can be many extra match-balls heading residence with Yamal sooner or later.

Yamal admitted afterwards that he’s put his damage issues behind him and is now enjoying with a smile on his face once more. That’s significantly unhealthy information for Barcelona’s rivals however can be music to Hansi Flick’s ears as we head in direction of the enterprise finish of the marketing campaign.

In the meantime, Flick merely desires a repeat efficiency from {the teenager} in midweek within the Copa del Rey towards Atletico.

“His stage is implausible, and I need to see him at this stage once more on Tuesday,” he advised reporters afterwards.

“We pressed Villarreal nicely, profitable head-to-head duels. The keys to immediately’s match had been urgent nicely and rapidly. It was an excellent efficiency.”

Dwelling file provides hope forward of Atletico

Everyone knows that Barcelona face a mammoth process subsequent day trip towards Atletico, having misplaced the primary leg of their semi-final 4-0, however there are just a few glimmers of hope to get us culers excited for the Catalans forward of the sport.

Not least is their unimaginable residence file to this point this season. Flick’s aspect have been completely excellent at residence, profitable 13 of 13 in La Liga, scoring 41 occasions and conceding simply six. Curiously, Atletico have gained solely three away from residence within the league in 2025-26.

”We all know it gained’t be simple to come back again towards Atlético, however we’ll struggle. We’ll see what occurs on Tuesday,” stated Flick afterwards.

Yamal had an identical message, telling supporters: “It was time to react and push. We’re doing it. Now let me inform our followers… …come to the stadium towards Atléti, the magic can occur.”

A magical efficiency is actually what can be wanted and the elements are actually there. The house file, Yamal recent off a hat-trick, Pedri match and able to begin and the chance to jot down one other unimaginable chapter within the membership’s historical past.

But it’s in all probability Yamal who has stated it finest, posting on Instagram after the match: “1% probability, 99% religion.”