Sant Joan DespíA new league begins, but the old customs follow. Barça starts a new season as it ended the previous one: with victory. The culers have added the three points against Granadilla (2-0) in a match in which they have suffered more than they expected. The ideas are there, but the execution still needs to be defined. Two goals from Geyse and Graham Hansen in the second half secured the victory for the club in the opening of the competition.
The opening whistle of the first women’s professional league has sounded at Johan Cruyff. The Blaugrana stadium has started a historic season for women’s football. The Blaugrana and current champions of the state competition have been the hosts for the beginning of a new era. The fans, committed to the team, have not failed, and 4,477 people have gathered in the stands for the first game of the season. The team led by Rafel Navarro – Jonathan Giráldez is suspended – however, has not been at all comfortable on the pitch.
The Blaugrana engine finds it difficult to carburate and the sensations are not good. After a longer than usual pre-season due to the suspension of the first day of the competition due to the strike of the arbitration collective, the pieces of the gear seem to not quite fit together. With a midfield devoid of its usual protagonists –Alexia Putellas injured and Aitana Bonmatí suspended–, Patri Guijarro had to carry the baton accompanied by two of the additions of this summer market: Keira Walsh and Vicky López. The one from Palma, however, was on the green for just over five minutes, as a collision with Nay Cáceres caused a contusion to her head and she had to be replaced.
Without their conductor, Barça suffered to build in a very difficult game. The players from Granadilla have had little possession of the ball in front of the Blaugrana’s superiority in their fort, but they have turned into a corner. Fouls, pushes and protests have upset the Barça players, who were angry with the decisions of the collegiate team. Loli Martínez didn’t have his day: he pointed out non-existent fouls, he didn’t see clear hands and he made the mistake of warning Irene Paredes in an action in which she wasn’t even involved.
With the tie at zero shining on the scoreboard, the culers resumed the second half with determination. The first Blaugrana goal came in the 60th from the boots of Geyse Ferreira. The striker, and martyr of the defenses of the Canarian team, received a pass from Lucy Bronze stuck in the front of the area. Like a ball, he turned to face the goal to send the ball into the back of the net with a powerful shot.
The party has become another. While the first half was marked by uncertainty, after the Brazilian’s goal, Barça settled in the Granadilla area to, seven minutes later, add the second to their tally. Graham Hansen, from the three-quarters area, lashed the ball home with a whip that had all the fans out of their seats. A real golas that equalizes a match that has left many doubts.
