2023-12-16 23:57:10
BarcelonaIn a week marked by messages of unity from Xavi Hernández and Joan Laporta after the saru with Antwerp’s invitation and the subsequent Belgian defeat, the team immolated itself in Mestalla (1-1) and let two escape points (and who knows if a good part of the League).
Almost ridiculous shot at Barça’s feet. impotence Barça wasn’t having a bad game in Valencia. Nothing wonderful, but he had managed to go from less to more and do the most difficult thing lately: get ahead of the scoreboard. After João Félix’s goal, the Valencian team looked like a broken toy in the hands of the Blaugrana. But Barça’s situation is so delicate, it’s such a fragile team right now, that instead of smelling blood and stabbing the final tooth, it has decided to resurrect a dead man. A new monumental empanada in defense: neither Cancelo nor Araujo (strange in him) release a high ball that ends up at the feet of Guillamón, the most alive, and with a simple orientation he nails a great shot. No one has rejected or blocked the shot. This negligence is incomprehensible.
The players do not make Xavi’s bed. In Mestalla, Barça knew how to be deep and create chances to score, but they did not know how to finish, as happened against Girona, even though the Girona had and have much more football than Valencia. Lewandowski, who wanted to lead the way forward for his teammates, shot up to five times in the first half without a hit. Raphinha, who has gone from less to more, has also been slow in finishing. Gündogan had two clear shots from the front. Frenkie de Jong and Pedri have had enough of serving balls to their teammates, but nothing, a single target that ended up being insufficient. The attitude of the players, with their coach questioned, has been good. But without forcefulness in the areas it is very difficult to add points.
Frenkie de Jong pays tribute to Arda Turan. It’s strange to see someone like Frenkie de Jong lose his roles. In Mestalla, after a step that caused him to dislodge his boot, the Dutchman took it off and threw it on the ground, in a clear gesture of anger. The reason? The referee Ortiz Arias had not whistled anything, even though the action happened right in front of his nose. It was also a gesture of helplessness because they had recently tied the game against Barça. “This referee is very bad“, was read on the lips of De Jong on the television broadcast. Ortiz Arias is the same referee who, because of the way he addresses the players, already got David López (Girona) and Sergio Ramos (Sevilla) out of the loop. Unwittingly, de Jong has paid tribute to hot-blooded Arda Turan, in his case, the Turk threw his boot at the lineman during an Atlético de Madrid v Barça game.
La Liga in Europe: ‘To the parrot, we’re not that bad.’ Although Barça is a giant with feet of clay and Sevilla, one of the renowned teams in the state championship, has just sacked its second coach this season, in the round of 16 draw for the Champions League this Monday there will be four League teams. The Andalusians will not be there, who did not even deserve to play in the Europa League (their favorite trophy), but Real, Atlético, Real Madrid and Barça will. Instead, there will only be two from the Premier League (City and Arsenal). The Bundesliga has three representatives: Bayern, Dortmund and Leipzig, as does Serie A (Inter, Lazio and Naples). Blaugrana’s classification is surely the only major argument Xavi has left at this point to defend his position: four years later, the team has once again topped their group in the Champions League. Of course, in a very cheap group.
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