Fermin Lopez Shines in Barcelona's Victory Over Valencia

At Mestalla, Fermin Lopez didn’t just continue his form. He detonated it.

The Barcelona midfielder, already buzzing from a brace against Elche and a goal versus Athletic Bilbao, produced his most complete performance of the season in the win over Valencia: one goal, two assists, a defence-splitting pass in the move that led to Lamine Yamal’s disallowed strike, and a solo run that ended with a shot crashing off the post.

Every time Barcelona poured forward, his fingerprints were on the move. He drifted between the lines, demanded the ball, and attacked space with the conviction of a player who has decided this will be his season. By the final whistle, there was no debate over the man of the match. Fermin owned the night.

Spanish newspaper AS underlined what this means for his status. After starting the season on the bench against Rayo Vallecano, he has now racked up three starts and nudged himself ahead of Dani Olmo in the fight for the central playmaker role. That is no small statement, given Olmo’s pedigree and the fact the Spain international still managed to serve up two assists in just ten minutes of action.

Flick suddenly has a luxury problem. How do you justify dropping a midfielder in this kind of rhythm? Fermin is dictating games, scoring, creating, and playing with a clarity that makes rotation feel almost unfair. Yet Olmo’s brief but brilliant cameo is a reminder that Barcelona’s creative hub is stacked with talent, and the internal duel between the two should sharpen both.

Behind this explosive start lies a very different recent memory. Fermin’s summer was brutal. He missed the World Cup after suffering an injury at the end of last season, just as he had reached the high of winning the Spanish league title. The call that every player dreams of never came. The tournament went on without him.

"I went through an extremely difficult time, and I could not watch the first matches because of the pain I was feeling," he admitted. Those are not the words of a player who shrugs off setbacks. They are the words of someone who felt the door slam in his face and decided to kick it back open.

So he stayed in the shadows in June and July, working. While the spotlight moved elsewhere, Fermin rebuilt himself. He returned not just fit, but ferocious: sharper in his movement, bolder in his passing, more ruthless in front of goal. The response to disappointment has been a run of performances that now shape Flick’s line-ups and Barcelona’s attacking identity.

From heartbreak in the summer to running games in September, Fermin Lopez has turned pain into fuel. If he keeps this pace, the real question for Barcelona will not be whether he starts, but how far he can drag this team with him.