Calm on the bench: Deco insists Barca won’t chase a traditional striker after Sevilla thrashing, as Yamal shines ahead of the Clasico

Deco on calm after Sevilla loss

Deco, Barcelona’s sporting director, says the club should not be chasing a pure striker just yet after their heavy 4-1 defeat to Sevilla. He argues the setback should not be read as a crisis, emphasizing that context matters and cycles change more slowly than a transfer deadline.

Barcelona were hammered 4-1 at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan on Sunday night in La Liga’s eighth round, a result that left the team with questions and a few sharp headlines to sort through.

Onsiderable moments framed the night: Robert Lewandowski missed a penalty when the score was 2-1, a moment that underscored the difficulty of the evening for Barça and its talismanic striker as the clock wound down.

With the season moving toward its final months, questions about Lewandowski’s future at the club—his contract runs out at season’s end and he is approaching 37—continued to surface in discussions around the squad’s forward line.

In an interview with Radio Catalunya, Deco recalled last season’s rough patch and suggested that nine points from a difficult spell were not the end of the world, noting that “everything was new” then and the feelings were different.

“When you lose 4-1 there is no room for debate because the result remains 4-1, regardless of the style,” Deco said. He added that Barça’s first half was notably poor across the board, but the team responded better in the second half, even if the scoreline remained harsh.

On the departure of Inigo Martinez to Al Nassr, Deco stressed it wasn’t driven by Financial Fair Play nor a club promise; he also explained that Fati’s exit was a planned step to help him regain form, while Lenglet left as his contract neared its end. He insisted that the exits were sports-driven and, in some cases, financially supportive for the club as a whole.

Deco also spoke about Erik Garcia, saying the club hopes to keep him as long as he wants to stay. He praised Garcia as an example of overcoming adversity and confirmed that a renewal would come at the right time.

Regarding Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Deco said he expects the goalkeeper to stay with Barça through the season’s end and that there was no need to reopen discussions about a departure in October. On Lamine Yamal, Deco revealed that the forward had been managing a groin strain after returning from international duty and required careful rest and a tailored training plan to come back strongly.

Yamal, described as a rising star, has been the focal point of a narrative about the club’s future. He was born in Mataró in 2007 to a Moroccan father and a Guinean mother, rising through La Masia to break into the first team as a teenager and then to become one of Barca’s most exciting players in the 2024-2025 season under coach Hans Flick.

Under Flick, Yamal has become one of Barça’s core contributors in both La Liga and the Champions League, earning praise from club legends who see him as “the face of Barcelona in the Messi era.” His maturity and calm under pressure have further solidified the coaching staff’s faith in his long-term role at the club.

As the Clasico approaches, all eyes are on this young talent who could be pivotal to Barca’s success later in the season, potentially shaping how the club navigates the summer and the fall part of the campaign.

Punchline time: If patience were a weapon, Barca’s been sniping with a youth-only squad—and the target keeps moving closer. Punchline 2: When in doubt about a striker, just tell the net to stay calm; apparently it’s loving the fresh legs around it more than the big names elsewhere.