Barcelona have three names on La Liga’s monthly shortlists. Captain Raphinha, head coach Hansi Flick and left-back Xavi Espart were all nominated for the La Liga August awards on Wednesday, a fair reflection of a Blaugrana side that has won all three of its opening fixtures and scored 12 goals doing it.
It is the sort of clean sweep across categories — senior player, manager, under-23 — that tends to follow a perfect start. Flick’s team sit top of the table after three matchdays.
Raphinha up for Player of the Month
The captain’s case makes itself. Raphinha has five goals and an assist from three league games, including braces against Elche and Athletic Club, and he has produced them from a central role he was never signed to fill. With Robert Lewandowski gone and Gabriel Jesus arriving only on deadline day, Barcelona opened the season without a recognised No.9 — and their No.11 simply took the job on.
He is up against a strong field. Per Mundo Deportivo, the five Player of the Month nominees are Raphinha, Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, Atletico Madrid’s Alex Baena, Alaves defender Nahuel Tenaglia and one very familiar face: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who has three goals in three games for newly promoted Deportivo A Coruna.
Raphinha’s form has already put him clear at the top of the league’s scoring charts, and scoring in each of the first three matchdays puts him in company only a handful of Barcelona forwards have kept.
Espart’s reinvention earns an under-23 nod
The most striking nomination is the one nobody would have predicted in July. Espart came through pre-season as a right-back and has been repurposed by Flick as a left-back — and he has been undroppable there, with two assists in three appearances.
He was handed the No.12 shirt and a first-team squad number as part of the club’s post-window reshuffle, and is now one of five nominees for the Under-23 Player of the Month award alongside Espanyol’s Javi Hernandez, Racing Santander’s Zabiri, Sevilla’s Miguel Sierra and Real Madrid’s Arda Guler. On the evidence of the opening month, the La Masia graduate is among the favourites.
Flick faces Mourinho for Coach of the Month
Flick’s nomination pits him against the man now in the opposite dugout for the Clasico. The German is shortlisted alongside Real Madrid’s new head coach Jose Mourinho, who has also opened with three wins, and Alaves manager Quique Sanchez Flores, whose side sit fourth after two wins and a draw.
Flick has been named La Liga’s coach of the year in each of the last two seasons, and the numbers behind this start explain why he is on the list again: 12 goals across the three wins, shared between Raphinha (five), Fermin Lopez (three), Lamine Yamal (two), Karim Adeyemi (one) and an own goal. Lamine, meanwhile, has created more chances than any other player in the division across the first three gameweeks.
When the La Liga August awards are decided
The monthly prizes go to a public vote and the winners will be announced in the coming days. Barcelona will not be dwelling on them: Flick’s side travel to Mestalla to face Valencia on Sunday, with Gabriel Jesus in line for a first appearance and Gavi working his way back from a knee problem.
Three wins, three nominations and top spot is about as good as an opening month gets. Barca Blaugranes carried the shortlists on Wednesday evening. Whether the votes follow is another matter — but for a team that spent the summer being told it had no centre-forward, seeing the league’s leading scorer, its most improved young full-back and its coach all on a ballot paper is not a bad answer.
