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Braking to Barça in Los Cármenes

Matchday 20

A goal by Puertas in the 89th minute after the expulsion of Gavi prevents the Catalans from sleeping in Champions League positions

Barça did not finish the job against Granada in Los Cármenes. Xavi’s team had the victory in their hands that allowed them to sleep in Champions League positions after a goal from Luuk de Jong, but in the second half, with ten after the expulsion of Gavi for a double warning, they took a step back and it paid dearly. Antonio Puertas, in the 89th minute, certified a tie with a taste of defeat for the Catalans that stopped their climb in the table and that would leave the Barça team out of European positions if Rayo Vallecano manages to beat Betis this Sunday.

Xavi started at the Nasrid stadium with surprise. The Tarrasa coach left behind the 3-5-2 scheme that he had used in recent games and formed with the classic 4-3-3 at Can Barça, with Jordi Alba as left-back and with Dani Alves, in his ‘redebut’ in League, in the right-handed lane. The new formula brought with it the lace of Luuk de Jong in point for the second consecutive game after its exhibition in Mallorca to finish off the centers that the two lanes generated. The plan came to fruition in the first minutes and could have its icing on the cake if González Fuertes, with the help of the VAR, had not annulled a goal to the Dutch striker after a precise delivery from Gavi, who started the play offside by a few centimeters.

It was the prelude to a Barça that had been very involved in the game. The Catalans kept Xavi’s hallmarks clear from the start with high pressure and position play in the opposite field despite the change of system, only this time Luuk de Jong, the turns that life gives, was the axis on the one that pivoted the blaugrana game. The Dutchman not only has not given up despite the rumors that place him far from the city of Barcelona, ​​but he has also found a kind of liberation that allows him to do Chilean like in Mallorca or implausible heeled auctions like the one that almost takes effect before Granada in the first half. It was the clearest chance for a Barça that with the passing of the minutes the piston fell and could even go to rest below on the scoreboard if Ter Stegen had not saved a powerful cross shot from Darwin Machís.

1
Granada

Maximiano, Quini (Bacca, min. 84), Víctor Díaz (Duarte, min. 68), Torrente, Neva (Escudero, min. 84), Gonalons (Montoro, min. 62), Luis Milla, Puertas, Machís (Collado, min. 68), Jorge Molina and Luis Suárez.

1
Barcelona

Ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Piqué, Eric García (Lenglet, min. 54), Jordi Alba, Nico, Busquets, Gavi, Dembélé (Álvaro Sanz, min. 82), Luuk De Jong (Memphis Depay, min. 61) and Jutglà (Abde, min. 61).

  • Goals:
    0-1: min. 57, Luuk de Jong. 1-1: min 89, Puertas.

  • Referees:
    González Fuertes (Asturian). He admonished Gonalons, Lenglet, Memphis Depay, Abde and Bacca and sent off Gavi for a double yellow.

  • Incidents:
    Match corresponding to the 20th round of the League, played at Nuevo Los Cármenes before 14,442 spectators.

Without Gavi, change of plans

After the restart, the game was still in no man’s land. Barça could not find the way and Granada weighed the option of taking more risks or accepting a draw against a rival with more names than ideas. Those of Robert Moreno fell into indefiniteness and the Catalans resorted to the weapon that is working best for them in recent games, the lateral center. Dani Alves, very active throughout the game, put a ball into the small area and there Luuk de Jong became a giant again to connect an unappealable header against which neither Maximiano nor VAR, a villain for the Dutchman in the first half, could do . Xavi’s men had managed to open the can. They needed to manage the loot.

Already with the advantage on the scoreboard, Xavi moved chips with the entry of Abde and Memphis Depay, two players who could give the Catalans a greater verticality with which to punish the risks that Granada was going to assume. The running of the minutes gave the reason to the Barcelona coach. Robert Moreno put all the meat on the grill and the game began to break in favor of a Barça that had been armed for the exchange of blows that was seen in the last minutes. Abde tried his luck after a counterattack and all of a sudden the script fell apart for Xavi. Gavi saw the second yellow card in the 79th minute after an entry to Collado and forced a new change of plans with the entry of Álvaro Sanz for Dembélé to stop the last Nasrid arreón. The culés did not achieve it and Granada found the prize for its push in a loose ball after a corner kick that Puertas put away from Ter Stegen’s reach when the meeting was dying. The final draw stops a Barça that was just a few minutes away from returning to the Champions League positions.

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