2023-05-02 21:22:31
BarcelonaSo much to dream of in this League that to achieve it Barça has to suffer a little. And look, the stage seemed the best to be able to take things philosophically for once, but it had to be a shot by Jordi Alba five minutes from the end that paved the way a little more towards the expected League, which could arrive the next day precisely in the field of Espanyol. Or before, if Madrid punches against Getafe on Saturday, May 13 and Atlético, who can climb to second position, does not add the next six points. The whites fell yesterday in San Sebastián, making things easier.
But what was supposed to be a placid afternoon, the starters before opening the bottles of cava next week, ended with nerves. Osasuna, despite playing with substitutes and thinking about the Cup final, cut the wings of an overly nervous Barça, unable to think clearly. The best news for Barcelona fans was to witness live which opponent Madrid will meet in the final of the Cup, since the Barcelona game was nothing out of the other world against an opponent who played more than 60 minutes with one man less It was necessary to appeal to the epic to bring down the rival defense with Jordi Alba’s liberating scream. Another 1-0 was needed, of course. Never before had a future champion won so many strokes for this result.
The red did not affect an Osasuna who tried to focus on the present, although they cannot get this weekend’s final against Madrid out of their minds. Jagoba Arrasate went out with a team full of substitutes, with up to six players trained in Tajonar. Osasuna played with more players trained at home than a Barça where Xavi did not surprise. To take another step towards the title, the gala team, with Dembélé still on the bench waiting to pick up the pace. But unlike the match against Betis, it was difficult for Barça to open the can, jammed against an Osasuna that has become an always competitive machine, playing with starters or substitutes. Arrasate’s defensive web suffocated Pedri, helped by a Sergio Busquets who gave De Jong the task of starting the construction of play. Lewandowski didn’t even appear and Raphinha didn’t always find spaces to run freely. When he did it, Barça looked like a rocket. But beyond two approaches from Gavi, entering the second line, little. The red card for Herrando came in an action in which De Jong, raising his head like a marshal inspecting a battlefield, advanced a few meters understanding with a single glance with Pedri. Blessed complicity, these.
The Dutchman acted as a leader, and gradually stretched the team. But Pedri is still not quite round and Gavi retired injured before the break after receiving a knock. The fans wanted to see them in action, with this spring schedule filling the stands with families, boys and girls holding their parents, short sleeves and messages of love. A spring match, as Pedri usually plays, with that joy of one who is in the prime of life.
An almost impregnable rival
Ansu, who had his representative, Jorge Mendes, in the stands, had a golden opportunity to play tin opener. Again one person’s bad luck, Gavi, became someone else’s good news. But Osasuna, as his hymn sings, is strong as an oak tree. Even playing with one less man, he was unstitched, and remained firm in defense, putting water in the wine of a Barça team that wanted to go to work.
Xavi, in fact, took very little time to bring Dembélé on for Raphinha in the second half, frustrated by how Osasuna still didn’t clean up after the break. It was like electrocuting the party, betting on the electricity of the Frenchman, the king of chaos, the man who best understands disorder. And Barça got excited, although without a goal. Both the Frenchman and De Jong, the latter after a gift from Pedri, conceded the goal when Osasuna already understood that the game would take longer than a day without bread.
But Osasuna was still clinging to life, and it made the entire Camp Nou lose its nerve. So much so, that more than one fan whistled the game of Xavi’s team. Things about Barcelona: leading the League with a 12-point cushion and receiving whistles. The clock became an enemy for both teams. The Navarrese thought it was going slow, the Catalans thought it was too fast. And the mistakes were repeated, with the stadium divided between those who encouraged and those who judged, while Dembélé showed that he did not have the day, turning gifts into a nyap. With the match turned into a stalemate, Lewandowski, sullen, came to score only to find that at the start of the action Ferran was offside.
In the end Osasuna took out the white flag five minutes from the end, when their area had more traffic than the Passeig de Gràcia subway corridor at rush hour, with all of Barça attacking. A goal that is almost worth a League. A title that Barça has been waiting for years and that could reach the neighbor’s field. A joy before the chaos, since in full celebrations, the club announced that the sports director Mateu Alemany will leave. Barça never sleeps peacefully. A fascinating club where you can win the league with a few whistles and when you finally touch the sky, you leave a key piece of your success in the offices.
- FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Kounde, Christensen (Eric Garcia, 54′), Araujo, Balde (Jordi Alba, 74′), Sergio Busquets (Ferran Torres, 74′), De Jong, Pedri, Raphinha (Dembélé, 54′) , Lewandowski and Gavi (Ansu Fati, 35′).
- Osasuna: Aitor Fernández, Diego, Unai García, Herrando, Manu Sánchez, Aimar Oroz (Iker Muñoz, 46′), Lucas Torró (Juan Cruz, 58′), Ibañez, I. Benito (Aridane, 69′), Chimy Avila ( Kike García, 58′) and Rubén García (Kike Barja, 46′).
- Goals: Jordi Alba (85′),
- Referee: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (Galician Committee).
- Yellow cards: None.
- Red cards: Herrando (27′).
- Stadium: Spotify Camp Nou (76,061 spectators).
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