Barça wins against Girona with last minute goal at Catalan derby in Montjuïc

FC Barcelona won against Girona FC, 2-1, after Araujo scored the definitive goal in the last minute of added time in what was a well-anticipated Catalan derby on Saturday afternoon at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.

A long-awaited goal as the intense game by Girona complicated things for the culés, which euphorically erupted with Araujo's goal.

The match, despite the victory, ended with Barça's head coach, Hansi Flick, receiving a red card in minute 90+1 for complaining against referee Gil Manzano. Flick will miss the next game, El Clásico, on October 26.

Barça's Pedri opened the scoreboard with a goal at minute 13 after a play with Lamine Yamal, who recovered from his injuries just minutes before the start of the game, allowing head coach Hansi Flick to start with him as a starter.

Fermín López had also finished his treatment minutes before the game.

However, despite scoring first, Barça did not have a peaceful game, as Girona's Axel Witsel scored a spectacular goal at minute 19. Just a few minutes later, Joan Roca's hit was stopped by Barça's goalkeeper Szczesny. However, Girona's Portu, with similar plays, hit the crossbar but pressured the culés.

And for those who thought Girona were dominating the match, Barça's Frenkie de Jong, recently renewed until 2029, attempted the second for the culés but had to face the goalkeeper, Gazzaniga.

An energetic game at the Olympic Stadium with 43,172 spectators continued with a foul on Barça's Marcus Rashford at minute 29. From a considerable distance, he shot and straight to the crossbar.

Girona had seen a bad start to the season, and many wondered about the future of its head coach, Michel; however, in recent games, he has proven that his game plan remains steady. He continues to be one of the greatest managers in the northern Catalan team's history.

After the half-time, Cubarsí's goal was called off due to a previous foul by Eric Garcia.

Before the game started, both teams gave support to residents in the south of Catalonia's Terres de l'Ebre, who were recently affected by the Storm Alice.

15-second stop

Barça will play against Villarreal on December 20 at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium as part of LaLiga's plan to internationalize the Spanish football league in the US.

The decision has caused outrage among many teams and players, including FC Barcelona's head coach, Hansi Flick, and recently renewed player, Frenkie de Jong. However, the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE, for its initials in Spanish) has called for a 15-second stop at the beginning of this weekend's games.

"Football players will symbolically protest to show their discontent for the lack of transparency, dialogue, and coherence from LaLiga regarding the possibility of playing a game of the competition in the United States of America," a statement released on Friday evening by AFE reads.

"The union has decided to leave aside the movement, even though they share the position and the main controversial issues, footballers of both FC Barcelona and Villarreal CF, the clubs behind the project, to avoid that the protest would be understood as an action against any club," the text adds.

However, Girona FC did stop the play for a few seconds, with the stadium booing their actions. Something that Barça players respected, as they did not move either.

The first game of the weekend was Real Oviedo vs RCD Espanyol, and players of both teams stood still for the first 15 seconds of the game. However, broadcasters did not show the action on television, and it was only visible to spectators at the Carlos Tartiere Stadium in Oviedo. The same happened on Saturday's Barça-Girona game.

Several media outlets are reporting a response by LaLiga president's Javier Tebas, announcing that they will offer the possibility to speak to all football players on October 24.

Camp Nou return

The game between Barça and Girona FC was one of the most anticipated, as many had expected it to be the first LaLiga game of this season back in the still under construction Spotify Camp Nou.

However, as in the last seasons, the blaugranes continue to play at the Olympic Stadium Lluís Companys.

Earlier this week, Barça received the license to play at the stadium with a capacity of around 27,000 spectators. However, the team had already announced that they would delay returning to Spotify Camp Nou stadium until it could fit around 45,000 spectators.