Barça couldn’t get past a goalless draw against Girona at the Camp Nou. The team led by Xavi completed a match in which he went from more to less, in which he showed a lack of ideas at times and in which he had to settle for signing the tables. The culés extend the distance with Real Madrid to thirteen points and are one step closer to a title that is simmering.
The match began with a declaration of intent by both teams. On one side was Barça, always ready to be the protagonist, and on the other a Girona that has become in its own right one of the happiest teams in the competition. With these ingredients, and the 4-3-3 that Xavi proposed with Ansu Fati as a great novelty in the offensive trident, one could expect a constant round trip, an endless abdominal exercise for a Camp Nou that did not stop getting up from the seat in the initial moments. The visitors warned first with two unsuccessful arrivals from Tsygankov and Taty Castellanos and the locals answered with up to four clear occasions in which Ansu Fati and Lewandowski were erratic in front of goal.
That fleeting beginning was the storm before the calm. Girona managed to even out possession of the ball, knew how to avoid the advanced pressure from Xavi’s men and even managed to make the Barca push subside as the minutes went by.
Barcelona
Ter Stegen, Koundé, Araujo, Eric García, Balde, Busquets, Sergi Roberto (Kessié, min. 46), Gavi, Raphinha (Jordi Alba, min. 75), Lewandowski and Ansu Fati.
0
–
0
Girona
Gazzaniga, Arnau, Santi Bueno, David López, Javi Hernández, Oriol Romeu, Iván Martín (Valery, min. 85), Borja García (Aleix García, min. 46), Toni Villa (Couto, min. 60), Tsygankov (Riquelme , min. 71) and Taty Castellanos (Stuani, min. 60).
Referee:
Mateu Lahoz (Valencian Committee). He warned Taty Castellanos and Stuani.Incidences:
Match corresponding to matchday 28 of the League, played at the Camp Nou in front of 78,425 spectators.
He did it faithful to his style and making Xavi’s plan sterile, which involved placing Ansu Fati on the inside, sometimes as a fourth midfielder, and leaving the sides for Balde and Raphinha to hit again and again. That idea, which has worked so many times this season, ran into an orderly rival who only suffered on the buzzer with a shot from Araujo after a corner kick that Gazzaniga took under the goal line.
Taty Castellanos forgives
After the break, Xavi tried to stir up the hornet’s nest with the entry of Kessié for Sergi Roberto with the aim of regaining control in the midfield. He didn’t make it and Girona returned to the pitch showing that they are a team with a lot of personality. Míchel’s men had longer possessions and found depth in a resounding occasion by Taty Castellanos. The Argentine striker stood alone before Ter Stegen and shot wide to the despair of Tsygankov, free of a mark to push the ball into an empty goal, and Michel, who immediately decided that the striker’s time in the clash had ended.
Girona did not take advantage of their moment and now it was Barcelona’s turn. Xavi knew it, who brought on Ferran Torres for Ansu Fati, who once again showed that he is still not in his best form, and Jordi Alba, an undetectable weapon for the left winger. The changes suited the Catalans well, who closed in on Gazzaniga’s goal with lateral crosses that did not come to fruition. Barça bumped into the heads of Bueno, David López and company over and over again until they signed a draw that widened the gap with Real Madrid to thirteen points and brought them one step closer to the title.