Newsletter

Barcelona wins just enough to a superior Athletic

Tremendous victory achieved this Sunday by the FC Barcelona before him Athletic Club in San Mamés, one of the most difficult fields in LaLiga, to once again put land in the middle with Real Madrid. The whites did not fail a day earlier against Espanyol (3-1), but the blaugranas responded in a duel full of drama to regain nine point lead over those of Carlo Ancelotti, one week before the Classic that both teams will play at the Camp Nou.

After an exciting first half, which ended with a goal from Raphinha just before the break, the lions they did not wrinkle and were launched for the tie, but they ran into the posts (once in each half), also with Ter Stegen —who made a save for Iker Muniain and was named best man of the match— and, already at final, with the VAR: Gil Manzano considered good in the first instance the goal by Iñaki Williams, at 87′, but later he would end up annulling it, after consulting the video arbitration, due to a previous hand by Muniain. More fuel for the fire in the middle of the scandal of the Negreira case…

Dramatic victory for Barça that could be worth half the League, at the expense of a Clásico that could end up being decisive because, if Xavi’s men win, the advantage of 12 points would already be practically insurmountable For the meringues, there are as many days to go.

A duel, that of San Mamés, that had practically everything, very intense and vibrant from the initial whistle. The two teams went all out from the start, each one with their weapons: Barça with possession and Athletic, seeking to surprise the counterattack. Ferran Torres warned at the first minute, but the lions They were not intimidated and they reached Ter Stegen’s area in danger thanks to the speed of Nico Williams. Berenguer looked for personal brilliance with a Chilean kick from outside the area, but the chance he had was even clearer. Lewandowski just a few seconds later. The Pole, recovered by Xavi for the cause, stood alone in the area against Agirrezabala, but the last control was a little long and he was able to catch the San Sebastian goalkeeper on his way out.

The game was at a thousand revolutions per hour: Gavi, always on the limit, did not hesitate to risk his type and Koundé, from less to more, swallowed a ball from above that Berenguer took and almost ended in a scare for Ter Stegen. That was where the recital for the German goalkeeper began, who was in charge of stopping Iñaki Williams and then saw how the sticks allied with him, after the crossbar repelled a Raúl García header from a corner kick.

The match was beautiful and either of them could score, especially Athletic, but the one that took the lead was Barça. In the discount of the first part, when it seemed that it would reach the break without goals, he appeared Raphinha to beat Agirrezabala with his right foot, his less good leg. Ernesto Valverde’s team gave him more intensity, but Barça once again showed off his punch.

Too much punishment for Athletic

Athletic’s superiority was even greater in the second half, although it was Lewandowski, with a header, who had the clearest chance when he returned from the locker room with a header that narrowly missed after a great individual action by Alejandro Balde on the left wing.

Los lions, always brave, are characterized by never throwing in the towel. In front of his public, and against a rival of the stature of Barça, he was not going to be less. While the audience at San Mamés —record attendance at the Cathedral with 49,741 spectators— sang that of “a Segunda, oe” and threw bills into the field to show their protest against the Negreira case, the rojiblanco team grew and began to search, with increasing insistence, for Ter Stegen’s goal. Berenguer smashed a ball into the post and then the visiting goalkeeper showed off with a save for Muniain, who had entered the field for Raúl García.

Athletic kept pressing and had a triple chance in the same play, which ended with Christensen taking a shot from Berenguer almost on the same goal line. The match was clearly set to draw, and at 87′ Iñaki Williams He beat Ter Stegen, finally knocking down the German wall, after a great first pass from Guruzeta. The Pantera it is unstoppable to space. The goal initially went up on the scoreboard, but Gil Manzano annulled it moments later, after consulting the VAR, due to Muniain’s previous hand in the action that started the play.

A setback for Athletic, who was unable to rejoin the fight for Europe, and a breath of fresh air for Barcelona, ​​who was overwhelmed by the rojiblanco drive but ended up leaving San Mamés with three points that could be worth half the league.

Datasheet

Athletic Club, 0: Accredited; De Marcos (Capa, m.84), Vivian, Iñigo Martínez, Balenziaga (Yuri, m.70); Dani García, Vesga (Zarraga, m.64); Nico Williams, Raúl García (Muniain, m.64), Berenguer (Cruzeta, m.84); and Iñaki Williams
FC Barcelona, ​​1: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto (Marcos Alonso, m.84), Conund, Christensen, Balde; Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi (Lark, m.94); Raphinha (Ansu Fati, 84), Ferran Torres (Kessie, 67) and Lewandowski.

Goals: 0-1, m.45+1: Raphiinha
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Extremadura College). He showed yellow cards to the locals Iñaki Williams (m.29) and Zarraga (m.86), and to the visitor Sergi Roberto (m.76)
Incidences: LaLiga Santander matchday 25 match played at San Mamés in front of 49,741 spectators, a record attendance at the new San Mamés. official data

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending