2023-06-05 20:18:39
BarcelonaThe Chicago Bulls of the 90s winning the NBA without Michael Jordan or Pep Guardiola’s Barça winning the Champions League without Leo Messi. None of these teams suffered for an entire season the forced inactivity of the most decisive athlete in their history. The hen that lays the golden eggs. Only a parallel reality knows if they would have won the same without them. On the other hand, we already know that this Barça of Aitana Bonmatí, Caroline Graham Hansen, Mapi León and Patri Guijarro is capable of lifting a Champions League without Alexia Putellas.
And that does not take away from the importance of what the Blaugrana team becomes when the two-time Ballon d’Or winner is on the pitch. Simply, it makes even more dignified the success achieved on Saturday at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, precisely where Alexia played the first minutes of the season in the Champions League when he took to the pitch in the 90th minute.
The absence of Mollet del Vallès since the beginning of the season meant that Jonatan Giráldez had to put the midfield puzzle back together, and the player chosen to take Alexia’s position was Patri Guijarro, the heroine of the final with his two goals, which moved from the pivot position to that of inside left. The Mallorcan’s place was taken by a signing that the sports management made precisely because of Alexia’s injury, Englishwoman Keira Walsh. The third footballer affected was Aitana, who, despite continuing as a right winger, had to play a greater role in attack and ended up receiving the prize for the best player of this Champions League.
The result of the recomposition has been excellent. Between Walsh, Aitana and Patri Guijarro have filled the hole left by Alexia. Aitana has contributed leadership and five goals and eight assists in the Champions League; Walsh, solidity, and Patri Guijarro, a lot of work in the shadows that has been rewarded with his prominence in the final. All this has been accompanied by group physical work aimed at reaching the Champions League final in the best possible conditions, a strategy that was not achieved last year, when it lost to Olimpique de Lyon in Turin .
A center forward is missing
On the other hand, Barça has not managed to resolve Jennifer Hermoso’s farewell last summer. Oshoala, who missed the final due to injury, has once again lacked effectiveness in front of the opposing goal, and Geyse, the signing to replace Jennifer Hermoso, has gone from strength to strength, to the point that Giráldez preferred in front Wolfsburg that Salma Paralluelo and Mariona were returning to the false position we to play with the Brazilian starter. Geyse has not scored since February 5, when he did so in the 7-0 win over Betis in Liga F. On the other hand, future striker Bruna Vilamala has just returned from a serious injury knee that leaves her far from her best version.
Thus, it is not ruled out that this signing market the general manager Markel Zubizarreta chooses to strengthen this position if he receives the approval of the club in a context of general cuts. But the first addition will probably be that of the Catalan Ona Batlle, from Manchester United, a good complement for both sides.
Cloths or Tasting Coll
The Barça goal has been a fortress for a long time thanks to Sandra Paños. But the 30-year-old goalkeeper from Alicante has accumulated a couple of seasons in which performance has decreased. And at Barça itself, there is another goalkeeper who is knocking on the door: Cata Coll. The player from Marratxí is destined to take over sooner or later, and next year, when she will be able to compete normally after overcoming her serious knee injury, the first stage of this transition could already be experienced.
Not many changes are expected in the squad this summer because Barça has renewed all the players whose contracts were coming to an end. But if it wants to continue to retain much of its backbone, the club will have to make a new effort before June 30, 2024, when the contracts of 14 players and the coach, Jonatan Giráldez, end. Among others, Alexia, Mapi León, Patri Guijarro, Mariona, Paños, Lucy Bronze, Crnogorcevic, Geyse Ferreira, Oshoala and Marta Torrejón are in this situation.
#Aitanas #leadership #Barça #win #Champions #League #Alexia