Festive return with suffering included by the Spanish team in Catalonia (2-1)

Cornellà del LlobregatLa selecció espanyola no recordava el que era trepitjar terres catalanes. After 18 years, the Red he returned to Catalonia in a friendly against Albania (1-2), a match that turned into a party for the fans of the group led by Luis Enrique. At an almost packed RCDE Stadium (35,554 spectators), the fans kept cheering and cheering for the anthem. “Barcelona with the national team” was read on a giant canvas in one of the stands before the match began in a stadium full of Spanish flags. The match, which was resolved with a victory suffered by the state team, was special for a specific player.

The big surprise was the ownership of David Raya. Luis Enrique’s idea was to make Robert Sánchez play, but he was finally sidelined, opening the debut for the Cornellà-trained goalkeeper, who landed at home again. Luis Enrique, by the way, has called up the goalkeeper of the U21 team, Arnau Tenas, who has not yet made his debut in the Barça first team. After more than a decade away from the Spanish soil, Raya returned to the grass of the stadium of the city where he trained as the great novelty in the eleven of the coach of Gijón. The current English Brentford goalkeeper left for the United Kingdom eleven years ago, after the green-and-white club, Cornellà, reached an agreement with Blackburn for the transfer of the young promise. Now just 26 years old, he shines in the Premier League, after the rise of Brentford, and has become one of the strongest goalkeepers in the competition. Almost indisputably under sticks, he has become a key piece for Tomar Frank, and Luis Enrique has recruited him for the selection. In his debut in the starting eleven with the RedRaya was calm in the few occasions in which he had to intervene, but he was unfortunate in the tie of Albania.

Celebration and suffering of ‘la roja’

The match at the white-and-blue stadium was tiring. Luis Enrique’s team controlled the ball for ninety minutes, but the danger was not part of their cover letter against the Albanian team. The first part passed without grief or glory. The team kept the type of danger without creating chances for Etrit Berisha’s goal. In the second half, however, the Red he put on another march seeing that the match was getting complicated. In the 75th minute, Ferran Torres finished off a first cross by Yeremy Pino from inside the area to advance the Spanish team. The azulgrana, with thirteen goals, thus draws in the list of top scorers of the selection with Julen Guerrero, Basra and Luis Suárez.

Albania, however, wanted to ruin the party of the Spanish fans and did not stop until they put their fear in their bodies. Five minutes from the end, Uzuni returned the equalizer to the scoreboard with a goal where both Pau Torres and David Raya were wrong and did not block the passage to the Albanian striker. The soufflé at RCDE Stadium dropped sharply. The match was again complicated for Luis Enrique’s team, and the fans, who stopped cheering for a few minutes stunned by the tie, knew it. Dani Olmo, however, ruled the match in favor of the state team. The one from Terrassa placed a pipe in the square, totally unstoppable for Berisha. The return of the Red in Catalonia he suffered and suffered in equal parts, after 18 years without stepping on Catalan soil.