BarcelonaBarça’s win against Viktoria in the Champions League. Five goals that demonstrate tremendous superiority against the cinderella of the group of death in Europe’s top competition. Below, four hot notes of the day.
What a striker, Lewandowski. It’s normal that the Ws ran out a few days ago from stamping his name on the new Barça shirts. It is logical that Laporta traveled to Israel this week to celebrate the birthday of Pini Zahavi, a key element in the signing of a Polish striker built in the same way that Ronaldinho meant to Barça in 2003. Lewy arrives as a veteran at the Camp Nou, with a growing contract, and has made Aubameyang expendable, but has decided to give a masterclass in how to be a battering ram every time he steps on the pitch. He uses his repertoire with a naturalness that scares and yes, he already has eight goals in five games, three in the Champions League. Their gunpowder will be vital to avoid further ridicule in Europe.
Metamorphosis the recitals. The undisputed star of the continental premiere is Lewandowski, but it would be unfair to ignore Dembélé’s brilliant performance. They changed it for us, at Mosquit. Not only have we started to hear his voice after five years of silence: suddenly we see that football makes him vibrate. He demands the ball more than ever, he presses as Xavi demands it and he has even gotten used to seeing yellow cards when he slows down. Against Viktoria he handed out two cracking assists, the first after stealing a ball with unusual faith and the second leaving Ferran alone so he could score his first goal this season. And if the wait ends up being worth it?
A collective triumph. 10 months later, two players who have suffered a lot with injuries returned to the Barça eleven. They are Ansu Fati and Sergi Roberto. After a long layoff due to knee and thigh problems, the Spanish-Guinean had only brought dynamite coming off the bench and already knows he can play more than an hour at a time. For his part, the man from Reus, tactically privileged, has restarted his career with discretion and resilience after two years of ordeal. That both are healthy is great news for Barça fans, but above all it highlights the importance of the return of science and the teamwork between Barça’s doctors and physios.
Journalism lessons. Hours before the game, Barça denied through a statement a news from ARA about Piqué’s interest in acquiring a part of Barça Studios. He also regretted “the spread of information without verification”. It is quite curious that the club decided to point to this newspaper and accompany the complaint with a free lesson in journalism when other media (three, in particular) had already spoken before about the defender’s concern for the production company. A restlessness – frustrated by the entity’s code of ethics – that existed with Bartomeu and that, we insist, has persisted with Laporta. We will continue to inform. And contrasting, of course, lest the institutional clique go from holding levers to applauding grievances with the press.