2023-08-02 07:04:06
BarcelonaBarça’s narrow victory against Milan in the third and final game of the team in the United States. Ansu Fati has scored the only goal of a friendly that Ousmane Dembélé has not contested, the protagonist for his escape to Paris Saint-Germain, despite being physically present in Las Vegas. The French forward is on the verge of a lawsuit with the Barcelona club over the distribution of the 50 million that the Franco-Qatarians will pay for the transfer. In this context, his teammates have begun to decide on the turf if they are gifted enough to cover his departure.
Xavi has appeared with a classic 4-3-3 and a combination of starters and substitutes. If Madrid’s line-up on the day looked very much like the starter for the official debut of the season, against Milan Iñaki Peña played under the posts, two of the defenders were Eric Garcia and Marcos Alonso, in midfield he the young Fermín López left the start and Ferran Torres and Abde appeared in the forwards, two footballers who are called to show the technicians that there is no need to throw the house out the window to cover the escape of Dembélé. Neither the Valencian nor the Moroccan have succeeded in the city of sin.
The game started with the Blaugranas electric in the pressure, but uncreative and neat with the ball at their feet. Despite having Oriol Romeu as life insurance on their backs, the youngsters Pedri and Fermín – Gavi leaves the States without minutes due to injury – have found it difficult to find holes. As a result of this disconnection, the danger had to come from the wings, where Raphinha and Abde could not easily overcome two notable full-backs such as Theo and Florenzi. Thus, with Milan still lagging behind in attack, Barça’s warnings in the first half came down to set pieces, with Kounde hitting the post as the best example in the 12th minute, and Raphinha’s long-range shot being saved by Maignan a little while later
The Rossoneri, more shots – they did not make changes until well into the second half -, they improved as the minutes went by, when Barça’s pressure decreased, and they found more opportunities to circulate towards the opponent’s goal. Tijjani Reijnders – whose given name is in honor of the legendary Tijani Babangida – was the first to test, with a cross shot from the second line, the reflexes of Peña, who also reacted positively in an action in which Leao left back Kounde very easily. If the Frenchman has played central and Araujo on the side, it has been precisely to control the speed of Milan’s skilled Portuguese. Wise decision by Xavi, who already puts this exchange into practice against Real Madrid’s Vinícius.
The Egaren coach has securitized the team at the restart and the consequence was not long in coming. In the 55th minute, Barça tied the score at 0-0 with three goals from three of the players who came on for refreshments. Balde, who flies like an airplane two weeks before the start of the official course, drove towards the rival goal with the electricity that Marcos Alonso lacked in the first half; close to the area, Lewandowski, much more threatening than Ferran Torres, has determined the position of the defenders Rossoneri, and Ansu Fati, fitter after the summer holidays, had a free way to cut Florenzi and send the ball into Maignan’s box with a strong and placed shot. With the ball in the net, the Spanish-Guinean went to share his shy smile with Dembélé, who spent the match sheltered under a hood next to Kessie, another of those who will be packing their bags in the coming days.
After the 1-0, and despite the usual merry-go-round of changes in pre-season, Barça had options to increase income in a couple of actions. First, Lamine Yamal, who just turned 16, showed off his privileged agility with a slalom and backhand shot that went wide to Maignan’s left. And, then, Ansu was about to repeat Balde’s pass: his definition was spat out by Pobega, who went to the ground. Milan also had their chance to equalize after a maneuver by Leao, but Reijnders could not finish the ambush in the net.
Barça leaves the United States with better results than game sensations. Next Tuesday he will make his debut in Montjuïc, his new home due to the Camp Nou works, in the Gamper against Tottenham. And on Sunday of that week they will visit Getafe on the first day of the League. Along the way, there are still quite a few questions to be answered.
Milan: Maignan; Florenzi (Kalulu, 64′), Thiaw (Kjaer, 72′), Tomori (Saelemaekers, 86′), Theo Hernández (Bartesaghi, 80′); Krunic (Pobega, 72′), Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders; Pulisic (Romero, 72′), Giroud (Colombo, 72′) and Leao. Barça: Iñaki Peña; Araujo (Faye, 83′), Kounde (Dest, 68′), Eric Garcia (Garrido, 85′), Marcos Alonso (Balde, 45′, and Valle, 85′); Oriol Romeu (Casadó, 79′), Pedri (Sergi Roberto, 45′), Fermín López (De Jong, 45′); Raphinha (Lamine Yamal, 68′), Ferran Torres (Lewandowski, 45′) and Abde (Ansu Fati, 45′). Goals: 0-1 (Ansu Fati, 56′). Referee: Alex Chilowicz (United States). Yellow cards: Marcos Alonso (7′), Loftus-Cheek (30′), Reijnders (44′), Red cards: None. Stadium: Allegiant Stadium (Las Vegas).
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