Kounde agrees to pay tribute to Christanval: the hot notes of Rayo Vallecano

BarcelonaBarça’s defeat in Vallecas in another insufficient match. Not even Lewandowski’s goal in the 83rd minute jeopardized the win for a brave and fun Rayo Vallecano. Below are some hot notes.

The vulgarization of Kounde. Beyond Araujo and Ter Stegen, two colossus who explain why the team has fit so little in the League, there is a worrying accumulation of Blaugrana players in a mediocre phase during this stretch of the season. Agreed that the course has been left with few incentives because the distance to the classification is sidereal, Europe is far away and the Cup final will be played by other teams, but more than one seems to forget that he is playing in the Barça and that, in a context of salary cuts, his chair may be at stake. Even Kounde, who was going like thunder in September, is starting to do bad things to the point that it is no longer an excuse for him to play as a winger and not as a central player. Now he doesn’t even approve when they put him in his place. What a shame, it cost more than 50 kilos.

Unconfigured automatisms. Xavi was finally able to reunite Pedri and De Jong in a lineup after almost two months. L’Egarenc had said that the two players, absent due to injury in the last matches, raised the collective level. It’s probably true, but in Vallecas it wasn’t noticed at all. First of all, because the intensity of Iraola’s men overcame the Blaugrana’s languor. Secondly, because the lack of rhythm affects after so many weeks off. And in the third, for the lack of Busquets, sanctioned for the yellow card he saw against Atlético de Madrid. Even if it annoys its critics, Badia’s is necessary in scenarios like those posed by Rayo. Against opponents who eat up the ground, the captain orders everything around him.

Traditions that do not fail. There is no game of Gil Manzano related to Barça without its corresponding score. Vallecas didn’t lack his style, his ability to warn the Blaugrana (Balde, Gavi and the substitute Jordi Alba in just 45 minutes) or grotesque errors of appreciation in both directions of the game. However, the biggest mistake perpetrated in the Madrid feud was not directly his, but the referee who ran the VAR, González González, who certified the annulment of a goal for offside by Lewandowski in starting from some lines launched in that way. It’s still lucky that the League is almost over, because there would be chairs to rent.

Talent is expensive (or not). This day confirms the rise of two coaches called to do great things. They are Míchel Sánchez and Andoni Iraola. Apart from being two guys with whom it would be nice to have a beer (or two), they watch football with a daring that is manna for a product in decline like the Spanish League. One with Girona and the other with Rayo, two teams that have recently been promoted to the First Division, have been able to defeat the two giants of the Spanish competition with a football rich in high pressure, fast circulation and few complexes. Tebas would do well to work not only to attract talent (Messi wants to return) to the tournament it presides over, but also to retain what is already there.