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Pedri and Ferran Torres came in for special praise from fans as Barcelona beat Cadiz 2-0 on Sunday, August 20, for their first La Liga win of the season.
Having opened their title defense last weekend with a disappointing goalless draw at Getafe, Xavi's side produced a better performance to run out deserved winners.
Without the manager in their dugout at the Montjuic - as Xavi saw red in the ill-tempered clash at Getafe - the Blaugrana left it late to secure all three points against Cadiz.
Eight minutes from time, Ilkay Gundogan teed up Pedri to break the deadlock. In the fourth minute of added time, Robert Lewandowski set up his strike partner Ferran Torres to rubber-stamp their win.
An inspired Cadiz custodian Jeremias Ledesma almost single-handedly kept the much-vaunted Blaugrana vanguard at bay before eventually succumbing. Fans praised the efforts of Pedri and Torres, with one proclaiming the former to be better than new Real Madrid signing Jude Bellingham, who has scored thrice in two games.
"PEDRI > Bellingham," tweeted one.
"Ferran Redemption Season," chimed in another.
Here's a look at the top Twitter reactions as the Blaugrana recorded their first league win of the season:
The win took the reigning champions to fifth after two games, two points adrift of leaders Real Madrid.
Why was Xavi not in the Barcelona dugout for the Cadiz game?
Barcelona boss Xavi was absent in his team's box in their first competitive home game of the season at the Montjuic, their temporary new home as Camp Nou gets refurbished.
That's because the club legend is suspended after getting sent off in the La Liga opener at Getafe for protesting one of the referee's decisions. The manager is suspended for two games, meaning he misses the league games against Cadiz and Villarreal (August 27).
Xavi's brother, Oscar, managed Barcelona in the former's absence in the Cadiz game. Along with Xavi, Brazilian midfielder Raphinha also misses the aforementioned games after getting sent off against Getafe last weekend for violent conduct for an off-the-ball incident.
