And just like that, Barcelona turned a worrying performance at the worst possible time of the season into a potential title-decider.
The Catalans’ 4-3 win against Celta Vigo, sealed by a stoppage-time winner from Raphinha, was box office stuff. This was a game that saw Barcelona struggling because of the very thing that has made them great this season – their outrageously high defensive line. Celta tore Flick’s offside trap into pieces, led by Borja Iglesias, who scored a hat-trick, cancelling out Ferran Torres’ opener and putting the visitors 3-1 up after 62 minutes.
Then, even more madness unfolded.
Flick had had enough and brought two very decent options from the bench into the action: Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo. They both galvanised the team, getting involved in all three goals Barcelona would score in the upcoming minutes.
It took Barcelona five minutes to go from 3-1 down to 3-3. Olmo cut the deficit to one goal first, and then Lamine Yamal sent a peach of a cross for Raphinha to head the equaliser in. Montjuic was blaring, momentum had been built, and the crowd pushed Barcelona players to do what their exhausted legs shouldn’t have allowed them to.
Raphinha scores his stoppage time penalty (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
While Barcelona were trying to get the winner, Celta missed two clear chances through Pablo Duran and Oscar Mingueza, from which both claimed potential penalties. The visitors started wasting time. Eight minutes of added time were given, and in the fourth of them, Montjuic erupted. Dani Olmo was brought down in Celta’s box, but despite the roars from the stadium, referee Mario Melero Lopez decided not to give in.
Heads were gone at this point, with Barcelona’s goalkeeping coach Jose Ramon De La Fuente as the prime example. He was among the backroom staff members who ran their way out of the bench on the sidelines to claim the penalty. In an act of complete desperation, De La Fuente smashed his iPad into the pitch in a video that went viral minutes after the final whistle.
De la Fuente qui explose la tablette 😭😭😭https://t.co/Md6c1sXJZl
— FCB Paul (@FCBPaul_) April 19, 2025
The game kept going for an extra minute, until the VAR referee called Melero Lopez to check the footage on the screen. Celta’s defender Yoel Lago stamped on Dani Olmo’s foot before bringing him down. There was no way back at this point: a clear penalty at the 98th minute of the game.
At this point, the Brazilian was not going to miss. He is a Ballon d’Or contender for a reason.
Barcelona won, but their performance was ultimately far from great. Celta were the better team for long spells, and nobody on that pitch could argue their 3-1 lead in the second half was not deserved.
Flick’s men were victims of their own calamitous mistakes. Wojciech Szczesny mis-timed his attempt to save a cross and gave away an open goal for Iglesias’ first goal. Frenkie de Jong and Inigo Martinez were all over the place for the second one, failing to clear a long ball straight from Celta’s defence. And it was Pedri who lost possession to Ilaix Moriba in the middle of the park, which allowed him to play in Iglesias for his third of the day.
In the middle of all this, Szczesny made multiple saves which stopped Barcelona from looking worse, but the fact they managed to win despite everything is what makes the result an even tougher blow for their title-race rivals and archenemies – Real Madrid.
It’s normally the hope that kills you, and for a moment, people at Madrid had reasons to believe in Barcelona dropping points. But seeing the league leaders getting the win on a very bad day won’t do any favours to a Madrid side that, after their Champions League elimination in mid-week, already have plenty of stuff to deal with on and off the pitch.
For Flick, this is as big of a morale boost as they could get, which might be the most precious gift they can receive at this point.
Because Barcelona’s players are knackered. In the build-up of the game, after having rewatched their last game, Flick blamed the disappointing performance at Dortmund on the hectic schedule they’ve had in recent weeks and the consequent lack of recovery time.
The 60-year-old also showed up as furious as he’s ever been since joining the club at media duties.
Olmo’s goal started Barcelona’s comeback (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)
“The game times we have ahead are a joke,” the manager said before the Celta game. He referred to Barcelona being scheduled to play at 9pm in Valladolid in two weeks, just three days before the second leg in their Champions League semi-final tie against Inter Milan. “I would like to see the person who made this assignment and discuss it with him. Those responsible for this have no idea of what it means to our players to get home at 4am, go to sleep at 5am, and keep going from there”.
Flick admitted he was forced to bench Lamine Yamal against Celta because he was exhausted. Jules Kounde has played in every game this season, which may explain his poor performances over the last week.
But Flick is not offering one bad word about his players in public. He knows that’s the last thing they need at this point, after such a long season, with everything to play for in the coming weeks.
“We showed that the team is there, no matter what, until the end of every match”, he said after the game. “I like to see the team never give up. The feeling is positive.
“Today is one of our greatest comebacks, for sure. It’s one less game and three more points. I love living it like that.”
It’s crunch time of the season, and Flickball might not be at its peak. But Barcelona’s team spirit has never been higher than this in the last few years at the club – and while this lasts, there’s room for dreaming big.
(Top photo: Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)