Barça are complicating their future in Europe after losing yesterday to Benfica, the victim of their own ills and the success of the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez, author of a double. Bitter night for the Barça team, touched and sunk and with their coach, Ronald Koeman, on the loose. The final 3-0 was accompanied by a devastating statistic: the Barça players did not shoot between the three posts and after two days, they did not score or add any points.
From the very beginning, things went awry. Koeman regained the scheme of the three centers and the bet did not go well. Jorge Jesús, the local coach, won the game and with a 3-4-3 and a very high pressure he drowned the ball out of Barça, who in three minutes already lost by a goal from Núñez and at five had received another occasion against, work of Yaremchuk. Eric Garcia and Araujo exchanged positions to try to stop the Uruguayan, who was doing what he wanted in those first bars. The Barça team was encouraged, which did not draw a miracle. Pedri drew a book assist in space for De Jong, who saw his compatriot Luuk de Jong alone and passed him the ball. The attacker, incomprehensibly, failed in an empty net. That, a few minutes before Piqué saw the yellow and a couple more arrivals. It looked like the tie could come. For sensations, but not for clear opportunities.
Until Koeman decided to move tab. Half an hour into the game, he brought in Gavi and seated Piqué. Frenkie de Jong, one of the best so far, lost his position and lost his presence in attack. The team accused him. While waiting for some more changes in the second half, such as the reappearance of Ansu Fati, the truth is that Barça returned from the locker room asleep and this was taken advantage of by Benfica, who did not perform the second miracle when Darwin, after d ‘a false start from Ter Stegen, sent the ball to the post without opposition but a few meters away.
The sentence
Bad image and worse omens, so Koeman decided to make a triple change. Nico, Coutinho and Ansu Fati came in with a stab just before Rafa scored the second after picking up a rebound inside the area. There were still a good handful of minutes to go, but to think of a Barça comeback already seemed like a utopia. He didn’t even go near it, because the Barça team threw in the towel blatantly and would even fit in the third of the night, after Darwin scored a penalty scored by the VAR at the hands of Dest. The icing on the cake was the expulsion of Eric Garcia, in the final stretch and for a double yellow. He will not play the momentous match with Dinamo at the Camp Nou. A real final face or cross for a team that sails aimlessly and could soon change coach.
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