BarcelonaXavi Hernández’s first Barça defeat. After an insufficient performance against Betis, Barça fell in the league and confirm that the most realistic goal of the season is to be among the top four. Then the hot notes of the match.
The price of rotations. Xavi made changes thinking about Munich. Understandable. In Germany, the only victory is not to depend on Benfica-Dinamo in the fight to stay in the Champions League. As a result of this European urgency, and also the need to get rid of his record to go to the winter market, Coutinho was a starter in the league. It’s good that Barça want to show it to see if anyone stings. But beware, because if the price of the rotations is, as happened against Betis, to make Araujo the best Barça player, perhaps the one who arouses the interest of an English club in turn is the Uruguayan, who has a low salary and contract ends in 2023. And that doesn’t matter.
Homework for Riqui. Gavi was stunned in the first half and Riqui Puig, who had been left on the bench again, came in to replace him. An hour of play for the Vallès native, exactly what Koeman had always denied him. 60 minutes to prove that he has a place in Xavi’s Barça, who can regain the ground that Pedri, Gavi and Nico have eaten. The theory excited the Camp Nou. Instead, the practice puts homework on Riqui, more obsessed with asking for it on the foot and throwing himself on the ball holder than finding the ideal position to receive in a position of advantage. It would be interesting to review videos of Iniesta. Or look at how interiors like Canales behave, decisive in the goal that unbalanced the match.
Europa League level. Betis came from four straight victories and prevailed at the Camp Nou without having to play a great game. It was enough to follow the order imposed by his coach, the old cat Pellegrini, and wait for Barça’s moment of despair to kill him in a counterattack. Goalless and resourceful, the Barça team must assume that the season is in transition. Transition to the point of maturity needed to be able to compete with the best in Europe again, which doesn’t mean buying Koeman’s “It’s What It Is”. Winning in Munich on Wednesday is an almost impossible mission. And it will not be easy to enter the next Champions League with rivals such as Betis, Real Sociedad or Sevilla. So, a reminder: perhaps we should start to see the Europa League as a plausible way to return to top competition.
Impossible to punish Dembélé. In case of doubt, Barça cannot afford to leave Dembélé in the stands, even if, at the request of his agent, he is playing catch-up and hiding with his renewal. The plan that was followed with Ilaix Moriba cannot be valid for the French winger, who today is the only Barça player capable of contributing to an imbalance in attack. It is true that Xavi’s men lost to Betis with the Mosquito on the pitch, but also that only he posed the only serious threat to the Andalusian defense. Barça post-Messi shows weakness when he catches Dembélé, a player who is more outside than inside and who knows that, as long as his physique responds, time and his pocket will play in his favor. And not necessarily to stay at the Camp Nou.
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