2023-09-27 00:10:12
Barça scored against Mallorca, beaten by Girona. It was not the same Mallorca, true, nor did Barça appear devastating and determined as the co-leader that accompanied him in his head, and that this Wednesday can unseat him from his head during his visit to Villarreal. There is a risk that Madrid will do it.
The comparison due to successive matches against the same rival left Barça in a bad place, although its image derived from defensive errors left it worse. Improper concessions that brightened the face of a Mallorca that drew strength and rebellion in its weakness, and unexpected in a Barça that made its reliability one of the bases of its championship. Doubts arise from that solvency due to the eight goals accumulated in seven days, when in the previous campaign it took 23 games to fit them in. That was what was unreal.
Barça has accumulated 8 goals in 7 matchdays, when in the previous League they conceded on matchday 23.
Nothing learned
Barça did not learn from the bad experience against Celta. Before getting involved in tackling a five-man defense and the difficulties that it entails, it was essential to avoid a goal from Mallorca to prevent the problems from multiplying. One thing or another.
He gave away the two goals, at the beginning and at the end of the first half and did not know how to crack the vermilion wall. Lamine Yamal, in another wonderful appearance, teamed up with Fermín to equalize the score. Barça did not go on from there, having exhausted their success and unable to complete another comeback.
Gavi and Raphinha were the only ones who reached a decent level in the general decline.
New centers
Xavi changed the two centre-backs on a day in which their expected activity was going to be low, beyond the fact that Koundé and Christensen needed to rest, one for having played everything and the other for being stiff with his physical discomfort. However, Aguirre charged his attack with Muriqi and Abdon Prats, the two most powerful forwards in a lineup that looked more to the next appointment with Rayo…
Araujo and Iñigo made their debut as a couple in competition. Barça does not have greater physical power in the rear axis; It was not necessary for the center backs to show off by getting the ball out either. Fluency had to be obtained with the midfielders. Muriqi and Prats took them to the limit and neither of them was there to give their limit.
All pictured
Iñigo appeared in the photo of the first goal as the recipient of a routine pass from Ter Stegen that was not expected due to lack of habit, that ball was more imprecise than dangerous, and Araujo came out in the second, defeated in the race by Abdon. The lack of rhythm condemned them both in purely competitive actions.
If the Barça giants lost almost all the duels, it is easy to imagine how things were going for the others in a skirmish duel in which only the smallest stood up: Gavi.
Between the strength of Gavi and the speed of Raphinha, Barça held on, as they conceded the first goal as easily as the second, just when they seemed to subdue the rival with successive shots from Raphinha and João Félix. Lamine shook up the team in his appearance with an action that culminated in simulating a penalty.
Interrupted inspiration
Can Barça play without Lewandowski? Can. Naturally. He could last year. The Pole was missing from the lineup eight times and Barça scored eight victories, among them, some of merit such as against Madrid (the first leg semi-final of the Cup), Atlético and Girona. Xavi interrupted the sudden inspiration with the six goals he has scored in five games and the Pole did not recover it in the half hour he played.
Xavi reserved Lewandowski and had to rescue him in the face of the real threat of defeat.
Ferran was Barça’s starting nine on a dark night with so many centre-backs and so few spaces. He got a nice cross from Raphinha in the area, and little else. He played facing his teammates, with his back to the goal. Raphinha was more active, spurred by the substitution doses, to the point that he overwhelmed Maffeo in the overdose of work that he gave him.
In the absence of Jong, no one was in charge of driving the ball, creating successive two against one to overcome lines. Advancing was easy: Mallorca knew how to contain Barça without falling behind too much. He retreated as he saw the end approaching for fear of losing the loot. Lamine put him in danger, but it was only a threat that they knew how to manage.
Datasheet
Mallorca: Rajkovic (8); Gio (6), Valjent (6), Nastasic (6), Copete (5), Maffeo (4); Sanchez (5), Samuel Costa (5), Dani Rodriguez (6); Abdon (7), Murderer (8).
Coach: Javier Aguirre (7).
Changes: Jaume Costa (5) for Maffeo (d. 35); Darder (6) by Abdon (d. 61); Larín (4) for Sánchez (d. 61); Van der Heyden (sc) for Gio (d. 85); Morlanes (sc) by Rodríguez (d. 85).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (4); Cancelo (5), Araujo (4), Inigo (4), Balde (5); Gündogan (4), Romeu (4), Gavi (7); Raphinha (8), Ferran (5), John Felix (5). Technician: Xavi Hernandez (5). Substitutions: Lewandowski (4) for Ferran (m. 57); Fermin (7) by Romeu (m. 64); Lamine Yamal (7) by John Felix (m. 64); Koundé (sc) by Iñigo (m. 78).
Goals: 1-0 (m. 8), Slaughter; 1-1 (m. 41), Raphinha; 2-1 (m. 45+3), Abdon; 2-2 (m. 75), Fermin.
Referee: Muñiz Ruiz (4), Galician.
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Cards: Romeu, D. Rodríguez, Nastasic, Aguirre.
Estadio: Son Moix.
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