Barcelona star Ferran Torres, on Saturday night, netted an altogether noteworthy goal for the La Liga champions.
Barca, for those not aware, were back in action a short time ago.
In their post-international break return, Xavi Hernandez’s troops welcomed Celta Vigo to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, aware that a three-point haul would see them, at least temporarily, replace Clasico rivals Real Madrid atop the Spanish top-flight.
And, when all was said and done in Catalunya, all three points is precisely what the Blaugrana marched on to.
This came owing to a wonderful attacking display, culminating in all of Joao Felix, Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres, Raphinha, and Joao Cancelo finding the net, en route to an eventual 5-0 rout.
As alluded to above, though, it was Barcelona’s third of the night which came as the most significant of the bunch.
Incredible free-kick 🤩
Ferran Torres curls around the wall to help Barcelona into a 3-0 lead 🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/Lmw9ZPMd3O
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) September 16, 2023
And, in the process, the Spanish international, fresh off a fine start to the campaign, broke a long-standing Barca curse.
As revealed by statisticians Opta, Torres ‘is the first Barcelona player to score from a direct free-kick in La Liga since Lionel Messi against Valencia in May 2021′.
1 – Ferran Torres 🇪🇸 is the first Barcelona player to score from a direct free-kick in LaLiga since Lionel Messi 🇦🇷 against Valencia in May 2021 (41 free-kicks attempts between both goals). New. pic.twitter.com/PlnOGuIb3H
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) September 16, 2023
Pep Guardiola responds to Gareth Southgate’s Phil Foden comments