Sept. 9: Mourinho's Title Challenge Gets Harder! Barcelona Win 4 Straight, Score 17 and Concede 2, 19-Year-Old Talent Has Evolved

In this round of La Liga action, Barcelona traveled away to face Valencia, a club that was once a major force in Spanish football. Although Valencia had previously been a strong contender for league titles, time has passed and the team has now declined, becoming a mid-to-lower-table side. Against a powerful Barcelona team, Valencia struggled even at home and eventually suffered a heavy 0-5 defeat. The victory also gave Barcelona a perfect four-match winning streak in the new La Liga season.

Although the team would face a UEFA Champions League match a few days later, head coach Flick did not make major rotations in Barcelona's lineup for this La Liga fixture. Yamal, Raphinha and Dembélé continued to start as the attacking trio, while Rodri also appeared in the starting midfield alongside Fermín and Pedri to form the midfield structure. Barcelona's strong starting lineup almost made it clear that the suspense of the match had ended from the opening minutes.

The match developed exactly as expected. Only a few minutes had passed when Yamal received a brilliant cross from a teammate inside the penalty area and scored with an outside-of-the-foot chip shot, beating the home goalkeeper by surprise. The game then became one-sided, and shortly afterward Fermín seized an opportunity to score and extend the lead to 2-0.

After halftime, Raphinha quickly completed a clever attacking run and finish to further increase Barcelona's advantage. Later, Pedri and Yamal each scored another goal, and Barcelona ended the match with a convincing five-goal victory.

After this match, Barcelona had achieved four consecutive La Liga victories and were the only team still maintaining a perfect record. Even more impressive, Barcelona scored 17 goals across these four matches, averaging more than four goals per game, displaying remarkable attacking efficiency. In addition, Barcelona conceded only two goals in the four matches, showing a solid and impressive defensive performance. Whether in attacking power or defensive resilience, Barcelona have demonstrated a league-leading level. For Mourinho's Real Madrid, the path toward winning the title this season appears extremely difficult.

In fact, when focusing on the first four league matches, the gap between Real Madrid and Barcelona becomes clear. After four rounds, Real Madrid scored four goals in home matches against Real Sociedad and Málaga, but their performances away against Espanyol and Real Betis were unsatisfactory. In particular, in this round's away match against Real Betis, they suffered a 0-1 defeat and failed to score. They have scored only 10 goals in total across four matches, and considering Real Madrid's star-studded attacking lineup, their attacking efficiency still needs improvement.

The biggest change for Barcelona this season has undoubtedly been Yamal's significant progress and transformation. In the match against Valencia, Yamal scored once in each half, bringing his total goals in the first four league rounds of the season to four. Compared with last season, his attacking efficiency has improved dramatically. The most notable change for the 19-year-old superstar this season is that he has appeared more often inside the penalty area instead of only relying on wing breakthroughs. His development path has shown some similarities to Messi's earlier years, and Yamal is now beginning to demonstrate the ability to control matches, which has also led to a significant increase in his goal tally.

As Yamal continues to mature, Barcelona's attacking strength has become increasingly frightening. Combined with midfield masters such as Rodri and Pedri, Barcelona's overall quality is now stronger than in the previous two seasons. It must be said that Mourinho's luck this season seems somewhat unfavorable. He made a rare return to manage Real Madrid, only to encounter a Barcelona side that could potentially become a dominant team. This season, Real Madrid's challenge for the league title will undoubtedly be much harder than in the previous two campaigns.