Barcelona secured a 3–1 victory against Alaves in La Liga, with Dani Olmo scoring twice to temporarily place the team at the top of the standings.The match began with a surprising development as Pablo Ibáñez gave Alaves an early lead in the first minute. Barcelona quickly responded through young talent Lamine Yamal, who scored from Raphinha’s assist.Olmo put Barcelona ahead in the middle of the first half and secured the win with a late goal at their partially reconstructed Camp Nou stadium.Barcelona now leads Real Madrid by two points, with Real Madrid scheduled to face Granada on Sunday.Following their 3–0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League, Barcelona managed to secure their fourth consecutive league win during their 126th anniversary celebrations.“They caught us a bit by surprise in the first minute, but the team came back well from that situation, keeping our idea (of how to play), we got the first, then the second, we dominated and got the win,” Olmo told DAZN.“It’s a dream come true to be able to play here, to score and help the team to win.”The team played without Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong, while Jules Kounde was benched after his own goal at Stamford Bridge.Raphinha returned to the starting lineup for the first time since his injury, and Marc Bernal made his first start since August 2024 after recovering from knee surgery.Alaves proved to be more challenging opponents compared to Athletic Bilbao, whom Barcelona defeated 4–0 in their previous home match.Ibanez capitalized on Marc Casado’s failed corner clearance and Victor Parada’s assist to score the opening goal.Barcelona equalized when Yamal scored from Raphinha’s cross, which Olmo missed initially.Joan Garcia made an impressive save to prevent Calebe from scoring, before Olmo gave Barcelona the lead with assistance from Raphinha.Yamal nearly increased Barcelona’s advantage but hit the post after getting past Antonio Sivera. Lucas Boye almost scored for Alaves before halftime.The return of Pedri Gonzalez as a substitute in the second half was warmly welcomed by the 45,000 spectators in the three operational stands.Both Yamal and Olmo had near misses as Barcelona sought to extend their lead. Pau Cubarsi made a crucial block to deny Boye’s attempt to equalise.Olmo finally scored Barcelona’s third goal in stoppage time, assisted by Yamal.“We couldn’t keep our lead but after that we had our chances,” Alaves defender Jonny Otto told DAZN. “It’s not easy to make Barca end up asking for the final whistle.”
