Dembélé takes Athletic ahead

Barca is back. The team led by Xavi Hernández comfortably beat Athletic in a game that serves to continue recovering sensations before the duel against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and to definitively leave behind the punctures against Inter and Real Madrid. Dembélé, who signed a goal and three assists, was the great protagonist on a night in which Lewandowski scored again, and already has twelve goals in the League, and in which Sergi Roberto and Ferran Torres rounded off the win.

With changes and crazy. This is how Barcelona came out to play the match against Athletic at the Camp Nou. Xavi, who already warned that there would be rotations, put into play a new eleven with up to four midfielders, Dembélé and Lewandowski at the top and the entire left wing for Balde. That asymmetric arrangement allowed the blaugrana to win one more player in midfield and surprise Ernesto Valverde’s men, who were ready to defend the classic 4-3-3 and in the blink of an eye they were immersed in a nightmare worthy of Halloween from which they were going to get up in cold sweats and with three goals behind on the scoreboard.

That Barça feast began to be cemented through the game. Xavi’s men were comfortable with the ball, they threatened from the wings and did not suffer in rival transitions thanks to the surprising double pivot formed by Busquets and De Jong. That scenario was the right one for Dembélé to act as conductor. The Gaul appeared in three acts. In the first he headed into the small area to open the can in a play that he himself had generated, in the second he assisted Sergi Roberto so that, on the run, he did the second by shooting Unai Simón and in the third he gave him a ball Lewandowski in the area so that the Pole did what he almost always does, scoring with apparent ease. The ex-Bayern player stirred, like so many times, and shot with an unappealable left-footed shot that left a first half view for judgment that fell in rhythm in the final stretch and that was only going to come out of lethargy after Gavi’s injury, which he had to retire due to a blow before going through the locker room.

After the restart, Barça experienced a déjà vu. Last Thursday the Catalans went 3-0 at half-time against Villarreal at the Camp Nou and in the second forty-five minutes the intensity of the duel plummeted. That story was repeated against an Athletic team who returned to the clash with the idea of ​​stretching, but ran into a rival who had already done their homework in attack although they were still well planted in defense. Thus, between the lack of ideas of some and the little need of others, the game went smoothly until Xavi and Valverde decided to shake up their respective teams.

The Tarrasa coach saw that the clash was seen for sentencing and began to play next Tuesday’s Champions League duel against Bayern Munich, removing important footballers from the pitch for the culé gear such as Lewandowski, Koundé or Pedri. The changes suited him well to a Barça that recovered tusk. Ansu Fati showed that he is recovering the spark that he had at the beginning of his career and Ferran Torres came in to play false nine and state that, why not, he can also be another partner for Dembélé. The Frenchman said goodbye to the clash with his third assist so that the former Manchester City player beat Unai Simón low. It was the last spark of some culés who close the week recovering morale and who hope that Gavi’s blow will only be a scare.