The spiritual backbone of Barcelona

Following his hat-trick that secured Barcelona's dominant victory over Villarreal (4-1) in La Liga last weekend, Lamine Yamal shared an uplifting message on his social media.

Coach Hansi Flick and his players also viewed the convincing win against the Yellow Submarine as a rehearsal for how they should approach the upcoming Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid this Wednesday.

Yamal's Form

Argentine legend Jorge Valdano once said that "a team is a state of mind," and if we consider the criteria of the 1986 World Cup champion, then Flick's Barcelona is truly a psychologically formidable team.

After two consecutive losses to Girona (1-2) in La Liga and especially to Atletico (0-4) in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, it seemed the Catalan club's season was in jeopardy, but the team found a way to bounce back. First, the victory over Levante helped the players regain composure and achieve a sufficiently strong mental state. Subsequently, a quality performance, sharp finishing ability, combined with Yamal's excellent form, helped rebuild the team even when the football quality wasn't at its peak. Players like Ferran Torres or Robert Lewandowski are no longer the main attacking pillars. Marc Bernal hasn't fully replaced De Jong's role. Pedri lacks the fitness for 90 minutes, and the defense still has issues to resolve.

But the brilliance of the prodigy from Rocafonda has made everyone believe they can stage a comeback in the rematch with Atletico in 72 hours. The forward, who is turning 19, is going through an outstanding period. He has 18 goals and 13 assists across all competitions this season, contributing to nearly one-third of the Catalan club's total goals.

With his first career hat-trick, against Marcelino's team, this winger surpassed Torres to become the top scorer in Flick's squad, both in total goals and in La Liga.

In the domestic league, Barcelona's forward has scored 13 goals, one more than the former Manchester City player (who has 16 goals across all competitions), and two more than Lewandowski.

Yamal is at his peak form of the season, and this serves as excellent psychological preparation before hosting Atletico at Camp Nou.

"Anything is possible, we will give our all. A comeback is entirely achievable. I believe in a comeback, and I hope Barça fans will support us," said the number 10 player. To reinforce this, he posted an encouraging message on social media: "1% chance, 99% faith."

Barca's State

Yamal's "rallying cry" was echoed by his teammates. Eric Garcia, one of the emerging leaders in Barcelona's dressing room, demonstrated a blend of willpower and football substance by stating that the victory over Villarreal is also a blueprint for defeating Atletico.

Pau Cubarsi, with his characteristic humility, also asserted that Barcelona will not give up despite being in a difficult situation. "We all gave our maximum effort and took to the field with the determination to win from the start. We believe in the comeback, we will give everything alongside the fans, and we will never surrender," the young defender warned the opponent.

Flick himself perhaps summarized the plan for the Copa del Rey semi-final second leg more succinctly and accurately: "We will fight together for 90 minutes, or maybe more, and we'll see what happens." Barcelona performed very poorly in the match at the Metropolitano, with countless defensive errors. The defenders repeatedly left gaps, the midfielders vanished under the host's constant pressure, and even Yamal disappeared in Madrid that day.

Not everything was fixed after that defeat, but the Catalan club's desire to win did not fade. They proved it in the victory over Villarreal because, despite not being at the highest level and lacking clear tactical pieces, Barcelona could still win through resilience and the ability to capitalize on rare opportunities. This is precisely the state of mind that Valdano spoke of.