‘He’s a game changer’ – Xavi in awe of Barcelona wonderkid after 3-0 win vs Rayo

Barcelona secured second place in La Liga today with a straightforward 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring for the Catalans after some brilliant work from Lamine Yamal. Two second-half strikes from substitute Pedri sealed the deal for the Blaugrana in front of their fans.

Speaking after the match, manager Xavi Hernandez was full of praise for young Yamal who once again made a big impression on the night despite being just 16 years old.

“With Lamine Yamal, everyone can see that he’s 16 years old, but he’s a game changer. It’s marvelous. We have to enjoy him for many years to come.”

The manager also hailed Pedri’s performance in the second half, insisting that when the Spaniard is on the field, everything gets better for Barcelona.

“Scoring goals is the best way for Pedri to gain confidence. And when you score twice, you feel good. He needs to get back the spark he had before the injury, but he’s a game-changer. Everything is better when Pedri has the ball,” he said.

Yamal impressed again. (Photo by MANAURE QUINTERO/AFP via Getty Images)

On finishing second, he added: “The minimum objective was to finish second. We need to fight for the Super Copa next season.

“We felt quite comfortable. The analysis for this match is positive. If we don’t win La Liga, at least we have to finish second.”

Despite finishing the season without any trophies, Xavi insisted that he feels Barcelona are better than last season and their plight is because of errors they made.

“People will tell me that I’m speaking nonsense, but I think that we have improved this season compared to last. The difference is that last season we competed better in important matches. There were less errors and gifts,” he remarked.

Xavi also credited Real Madrid for having a spectacular season, as he said: “What changed this season was Real Madrid, they had a historic season. We’re playing against one of the best teams, the Champions League finalist. We’re competing against a super team.”

Source: BarçaOne