A half-finished Barça finish with a slap in the face in Granada (1-1)

A year ago, Barça won in Granada with Messi and Griezmann. Now he almost did it with Luuk de Jong and Dani Alves, two players who would not have expected to be Barça, a year ago. Destiny is so naughty and amazing in a club where everything happens. The first assist in this second journey of an Alves who has not lost the ability to caress the ball helped Luuk de Jong to become the accidental hero of a Barça that still has muddy feet. Every joy, in fact, has the bitter aftertaste of an injury, lately. In Granada, the face was Alves, and the cross, losing Eric Garcia.

After a short tussle with the defender, Linares finally tucked the ball home. A team that is starting to execute Xavi’s ideas with more baggage. But everything changes with Luuk de Jong in attack. Surely Xavi would have preferred to have another striker on the pitch, but since you have the Dutchman, it’s time to take advantage of his characteristics. And, as happened in Mallorca, Barça got tired of focusing. And each cross seemed to increase the self-esteem of the Dutchman, who in a few minutes scored a beautiful header, although the VAR discovered an offside by Gavi before the cross. A few minutes later, he tried to finish off a cross from Jutglà with the spur. That player who recently kicked out with an empty goal has turned into a man who dares with everything.

Once recovered, Gavi secured possession in the middle of the field accompanied by Nico’s poetry. Gavi, on the other hand, is wholehearted. So much so that he doesn’t always know how to control himself and ended up being sent off in the second half. Sins of youth. On the right, Dembélé acted as Dembélé. You never know what to expect from French. If in Linares he was the hero, in Granada he was dedicated to losing almost every individual duel. Playing with Dembélé is like looking at the sky for hours waiting to see if a star passes. Most of the time nothing happens, but from time to time the Frenchman lights up the stage. This was not the case at Nuevo Los Cármenes. It was a clear script match, as usually happens to Xavi. It already happened to him as a player, in fact, to have in front of closed rivals who are looking for the tickles against you. Robert Moreno gave up the style he worked on when he was a member of Luis Enrique’s coaching staff at Barça.

Ter Stegen, and forma

Barça’s dominance, with a Jutglà enjoying the game with the same passion as a young man who is allowed to return home late for the first time, ended up crashing into a very solid Granada. Nothing new in a Barça that walks in the right direction but that often has more play than effectiveness. Normal, with so many obstacles. And yet, the start was good, with the chances of Luuk de Jong waking up a grenade that he understood he also had to stretch a little in attack. He did this by attacking Alves’ gang. And Darwin Machis, one of those players who seems to prioritize having fun, always doing tricks with the ball, was about to beat Ter Stegen. As in Mallorca, the German goalkeeper’s arm resisted, firmly. The local reaction clogged the party. De Jong was isolated. And Barça found themselves trapped in this mud where they have passed so many times, with a lot of possession but little space to break the rival defense. If Granada resisted, Barça would be frustrated. And Dembélé’s races never ended in port.

Moving forward when you have the wind in your face is always hard. Xavi’s first months on the bench seem to be affected by a biblical plague, with so many casualties and injuries. In Granada, the one who fell was Eric Garcia: a muscle injury that may also leave him unable to play in the Super Cup. Xavi put Lenglet in a defense that holds on with tweezers, after also losing Araujo in a few days. But Xavi’s Barça has a heart. He is hungry. And when it got worse, he left Granada speechless with a classic recipe. Alves put the ball in Luuk de Jong’s head and the flying Dutchman beat Luis Maximiano. If you have one of the best centerers in history and a player who masters aerial play, the recipe comes out on its own. And what was a tricky game was starting to become a new step forward for a team that, with more space, sent De Jong to the bench to get Memphis Depay and Ez Abde back. Abde tried. Memphis on the other hand, had a terrible day.

The Dutchman’s goal was defended by a team led by an imperial Piqué. A team that ended up suffering bravely when Gavi saw the second yellow with 10 minutes left. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when Antonio Puertas was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 89 minutes into the match. Of those that hurt you. Good sign. If it hurts, it means the project is alive and well. But it is still a growing project. The seeds have taken root, but the roots have not yet taken root. They should be watered with goals, with new faces. With Ferran Torres, with Ansu or Pedri.