Three talking points from Las Palmas 0-2 Barcelona

Olmo makes the difference as Barca pass stiff test

Dani Olmo made all the difference for Barcelona against Las Palmas after coming on as a substitute at half-time.

The Spain star replaced Fermin Lopez and linked up with Lamine Yamal to score a brilliant goal to break the deadlock after Barca had struggled to hurt the hosts.

Olmo seems to thrive in tight spaces in the penalty area, as evidenced yet again, and some sharp footwork was followed by an excellent finish to finally break the deadlock.

The love for Dani Olmo pic.twitter.com/HAD4gpL9Yc — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 23, 2025

Barca had been toiling up until that point but his introduction was key. Even Alex Suarez admitted Olmo changed the game and “surprised” Las Palmas when he arrived.

It’s also a goal and a performance that Olmo really needed as he ended a run of 11 games without finding the back of the net for Barcelona in all competitions.

It’s been something of a rollercoaster first season for Omo. He started brilliantly, has suffered from injuries, had to cope with the whole registration saga but is now back in the goals and in “great shape” as we head towards the business end of the season.

Barca are said to be working hard on a special plan for Olmo to keep him fit and firing, and if he can stay on the pitch for the next few months he will have a major role to play.

Ferran is Flick’s sharp shooter

Barcelona’s other goalscorer was Ferran Torres who finished off Las Palmas deep into stoppage time after coming off the bench to score yet again.

That’s now 11 goals and four assists this season for The Shark who is finally proving to be a very effective member of the Barca squad. In 2025 alone, he has six goals in 320 minutes of football - that’s a strike every 53 minutes.

Ferran was needed too as this was a game where Barca were fairly toothless in attack for long periods and top scorer Robert Lewandowski struggled to make an impact.

Flick was certainly happy with Ferran and offered him hope of a starting spot in the coming games.

“But I am also happy with Ferran, he has scored a lot of goals and is on the bench, it’s not so easy for him,” he said. “But they [Olmo and Ferran] are doing good. They are always an option for the starting XI.”

According to the stats, Ferran Torres is the Barcelona player with the highest shot accuracy in LaLiga this season. Over half (54.2%) of his shots are on target (13 out of 24) that’s up from 39.5% last year and 29.7% in 2022-23. A massive improvement.

Szczesny racking up the clean sheets

Ferran Torres isn’t the only player racking up impressive stats this season either. Wojciech Szczęsny kept another clean sheet on Saturday night to take his tally to six for the season and four in his last five games.

The veteran stopper is also yet to taste defeat since coming out of retirement to play for Flick’s side. Barca have won every game league game that Szczesny has played in and the only game he has not emerged victorious from was the 2-2 draw against Atalanta in the Champions League.

Another dive into the stats shows that Szczesny has conceded just 9 goals in 11 games this season for Barcelona, while Inaki Pena conceded 23 in 22 and Marc-Andre ter Stegen allowed seven in seven before his injury.

Flick’s decision to make Szczesny his No.1 caused a few raised eyebrows at the time, and he has had a few shaky moments too, but the veteran’s stats are certainly backing up the coach’s decision to make him a starter for the Blaugrana.

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