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The two ex-Dortmunders Aubameyang (left) and Dembélé (middle) with Ferran Torres
Photo:
JAVIER SORIANO / AFP
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang laughed that laugh that seems so uncharacteristically natural for football stars.
He explained what happened to the ball he caught as the crowd celebrated and then held it up with his eyes closed.
»A Dragon Ball, you can make a wish with it.«
Aubameyang, FC Barcelona striker with family in Spain, had wished for a goal for his late grandparents.
In the end he even scored two in the Clásico at Real Madrid.
After just 444 minutes in La Liga since Arsenal joined Barcelona, he has now netted seven times.
Goals, unconventional celebrations and infectious good spirits: It's an Aubameyang like the ones Borussia Dortmund once knew in the Bundesliga.
As he finally seemed passé after a difficult year and at the age of 32.
Lost like Barça reeling from one debacle to the next.
Who lacked laughter, laughter after goals, laughter like from Aubameyang.
"Many players here have been criticized and judged," coach Xavi Hernández recalled of those times that were not long ago and yet only seemed like a fleeting nightmare after a triumphant 4-0 (2-0) against a confused one Archrivals in his Santiago Bernabéu.
The best thing about the night was the result – for Real Madrid.
"It could have been a lot worse," said goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who was responsible for damage control.
Club director Jordi Cruyff was asked what could have happened if the squad and coach had been available all season.
"We can all guess, but we'll never know," he said.
Certainly Barça would not be twelve points (with one game less) behind leaders Real.
It would probably be more like the Xavi table: since Barça's ex-playmaker took over from Ronald Koeman on Matchday 14 and turned out to be as clever as he was on the pitch, his side have scored as many points in fewer games like real.
At the Bernabéu, everything could be seen that one had dreamed of from his signing: a vintage Barça with the classic signs of identity - high defensive line, fast pass circulation, pressing after losing the ball - but also an integrated update to vertical, fast-paced football.
However, the Xavi effect has only really taken hold since he no longer has to play an attack from Luuk de Jong and the young players Ferran Jutglà and Ilias Akhomach, such as in a 1-0 win on Mallorca on January 2nd.
But like in Madrid with someone from Aubameyang, the national striker Ferran Torres, who was also committed during the winter break – and Ousmane Dembélé.
Yes, Dembele.
He's actually been with the club for almost five years.
But he still feels like a newcomer.
Where Aubameyang was already written off after an end in arguments, bitterness and indiscipline at Arsenal, the constant injuries had worried his former Dortmund team-mate Dembélé – and most recently his own club.
Just before the transfer deadline ended, he was dropped from the squad for the Cup game in Bilbao with an ultimatum: either he renew his contract or he will never play for Barça again.
Dembélé has not renewed until today.
But he plays.
The Dembelievers are back
The last defeat for Barça was in Bilbao on January 20th.
Then came Aubameyang and Dembélé.
And now, in Madrid, where the former Dortmund team already excelled in their big 2016/2017 season with a 2-2 win in the preliminary round, Dembélé kept sprinting slightly past Real's backup left-back Nacho - this is how he prepared the 1-0 through Aubameyang.
The 2-0 through a header from defender Ronald Araújo followed his cross.
Dembélé has become the second Barça player in history to have two assists in a first half at the Bernabéu.
The first was his coach, in 2009 in a mythical 6-2.
Whether because of Xavi, the positive influence of his old friend Aubameyang or simply because Dembélé tends to do the opposite of what you expect: In the last five league games alone, the 24-year-old has made seven assists.
The "Dembelievers" in Barcelona, at times almost threatened with extinction, can rejoice again, and suddenly past eulogies no longer sound quite so presumptuous.
"Better than Mbappé" was what club president Joan Laporta called him when they wanted to flatter him with warm words about signing the contract.
"Taken by the hand, he can be the best in the world in his position," Xavi explained at the time.
The topic is currently untouched.
It is still being rumored from Dembélé's camp that he would like to stay.
The club, on the other hand, says that they have not received any new signals and will not improve their offer given the financial situation.
Only the outspoken Aubameyang speaks openly and finally said: "When I got here, I said to him: 'You have to stay, brother.'"
Aubameyang himself has a working paper until the summer of 2025. Among his pivotal actions at the Bernabéu, it was hard to single out one over the other.
The header between central defenders Éder Militão and David Alaba to make it 1-0 was probably the most important.
A brilliant back-heel assist to make Torres 3-0 the most creative.
A soulful lob over Courtois to make it 4-0 the most elegant.
He also works backwards, presses well up front, is always playable, opens up new registers for Barça's game with his strength in space and passes on compliments politely: "It's easy with teammates like that."
And so they could hardly believe their luck at Barcelona.
With Aubameyang, who fell into their laps free of charge after the contract was terminated in London.
And anyway.
"Apart from being a Barça coach, I'm also a culé (
Barça fan
), these are spectacular experiences that we have to enjoy," said Xavi, confirming the impression of a trend reversal in the team: "We've shed the inertia of losing."
In a similar vein, Barça's established speaker Gerard Piqué was very brief.
After the end of the game, he tweeted just three words, in English: “We are back”.
