Dani Olmo made a superb debut for Barcelona in a win over Rayo Vallecano

Dani Olmo marked his Barcelona return in memorable fashion on Tuesday, scoring the game-winning goal in the team’s 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano. The final goal of the game came in the 82nd minute when Olmo combined with club and country teammate Lamine Yamal to strike. Yamal raced towards the endline on the right side of the penalty area and cleverly spotted Olmo behind him, passing the ball to him. Olmo wasted little time in scoring, taking a few touches before dropping his powerful strike into the back of the net.

Take a look below.

Olmo developed in Barcelona’s academy but left before playing for the first team, and surprisingly signed for Dinamo Zagreb in 2014 at the age of 16. He emerged in Croatia before making a name for himself with RB Leipzig in 2020, and continued his upward trajectory with a stellar performance at Euro 2024. Olmo scored three goals for Spain as they won the European Championship, their first since 2012, and quickly set a return to Barcelona.

The 26-year-old made his long-awaited debut at halftime of the game against Rayo, as Barcelona continued to work to make a comeback. Hansi Flick’s side were a goal behind from the ninth minute when Unai Lopez scored to give Rayo the lead. Pedri equalised in the 60th minute, before Olmo scored to give them the lead.

However, Barcelona’s years-long financial struggles forced Olmo to wait until the third game of the new La Liga season to make his debut despite signing for the club on August 9. The club was unable to register Olmo until the day of the match against Rayo, taking advantage of a loophole in the league’s roster rules. According to The Athletic, the newcomer was added to the roster in place of Andreas Christensen, who suffered an Achilles injury over the weekend and will be out for up to a month. Olmo’s situation will not affect Christensen, who will be eligible to play at the earliest, but Olmo’s registration is currently until the end of 2024.

With their midweek win, Barcelona have now become the only team in La Liga to win their opening three games of the season. They aim to make it four games in a row when they face Real Valladolid on Saturday.