Barça had to play on the ground. After seeing how the bad results turned to stones in the pockets for a team that is moving slower than Xavi would like, the Terrassa coach took out his scalpel. Small changes to achieve great results and grow a team always punished by casualties, with Pedri looking at everything with a sad look in the stands and Ansu with eyes of excitement on the bench, after finally receiving the high. Little could be done on his return to the pitch, the young striker. Xavi bet on recovering the best version of Memphis, too forgotten lately, placing him on the left to allow Ferran to act on the right, where he likes to play Valencian. It worked in part, as Memphis proved to have a solid relationship with the goal, but Ferran still can’t find his place, too nervous. In the second half he scored, looking up at the sky in gratitude, but it was a bad taste joke of fate, as the VAR discovered a millimeter offside.
It was not an easy context, on a summer Sunday night that invited pigeons to fly, instead of chopping stone against a defensive rival who arrived signing the tie in a stadium that again presented another weak entry. Nothing new, in fact. A show that was not worth the money that cost the tickets that tourists do buy but many members do not. As in so many corners of a city where prices seem more thoughtful to visitors than to citizens.
Memphis, to the rescue
The reality, naked, was this. It was necessary to win as it was to consolidate the second position. But the team that not so long ago ran like lightning now seemed slow, playing in batts. The players seemed to be trapped in the quicksand of doubt. Frenkie de Jong was a good example, brilliant only when he could cross the field with spaces, free. The match, uncomfortable as a tie knot too tight, could be summed up in Piqué’s grimace of pain, which lasted less than half an hour in his return to the title.
Without Pedri’s clairvoyance, Barça looked for long crosses and shots. A cross was caught by Araujo, who, when he was celebrating his renewal, ended up with a slap in the face, as he was almost out of play. A second long ball did find its way to glory, when Jordi Alba agreed with a single glance with Memphis, to put the ball that the Dutchman tore with a violent shot. The hardest part had been done. With more space, the team got rid of fears. Already ahead, Barça became Barça again, signing the best football moments in weeks in the second half. With De Jong and Ferran being partially pardoned for their sins with their races and Sergio securing the result with a house shot from the front (2-0).
Xavi decided to turn the game into a collective conspiracy, uniting players and fans to burn in a bonfire all the bad memories of the last days and face the final stretch of the season with his head held high. It is about thinking about a future symbolized by Ansu Fati, who was able to return to the pitch, confident that this will be the right one, which will finally regain the stability that the young striker and the whole team need so much. With Ansu on the pitch, the party was complete at a Camp Nou that went from celebrating Ferran’s 3-0, offside goal, to the nose of Mallorca’s 2-1, the work of Raíllo in a defensive move of a Barça that continues to have muddy feet in defense. A symbolic goal. It did not prevent Barça’s victory, but it served to remind everyone that it has not yet come to fruition. The Champions League is already on the horizon, but water is still entering the ship.
