After Fermin Lopez steered in his second goal of the night, he did not sprint for the corner flag. He turned, faced Lamine Yamal, extended one arm, lifted a leg and brought his index finger to meet his teammate’s. For anyone who grew up on Japanese anime, the choreography was instantly recognisable. It was the fusion dance performed by Goten and Trunks in Dragon Ball Z, the steps that combine two young Saiyan fighters into the hybrid warrior Gotenks.
Yahoo Sports reported that the two Barcelona players stood facing each other, extended their arms, executed coordinated leg movements and touched their index fingers together in a sequence mirroring the anime. Within minutes the broadcast clip was moving around social media alongside the original cartoon frames, and replies filled with fans trying out fusion names for the Yamal-Lopez combination in the Dragon Ball tradition.
The pop-culture flourish was the exclamation mark on a 2-1 comeback win at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano on Sunday. Giuliano Simeone had put the home side in front in the 10th minute. Lopez levelled on the stroke of half-time and struck again in the 66th, slotting home after Yamal threaded a pass between the Atletico centre-backs.
‘His pass was like half a goal’
Lopez put the assist at the heart of the move.
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“We know each other well, and his pass was like half a goal,” Lopez told Spanish broadcaster Movistar after the game.
The midfielder was named man of the match and now has eight goals and seven assists in La Liga this season.
Flick’s half-time switch turned the game
Hansi Flick won the tactical duel with a change at the interval, sending on Frenkie de Jong to settle the midfield. From then on Barcelona controlled tempo and territory, and the chance Yamal engineered for Lopez’s winner was the sharpest moment of that second-half grip.
Barcelona three points clear
The result leaves Flick’s side top of La Liga on 33 points after 12 matches, three clear of Real Madrid on 30. Atletico Madrid, who went into the night hoping to close the gap at the summit, drop further back in third on 28 points.
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