Barça ended up frustrated last night at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. The team led by Xavi could not get past a goalless draw against Getafe in a game that lasted 116 minutes and was marked by constant interruptions and tension between the two teams. Raphinha, Jaime Mata and Xavi himself ended up sent off and the Catalans fell once again into the trap of a rival who has taken the measure and against whom he has already gone more than four hundred minutes without scoring at home. He happened to him with Quique Sánchez Flores and it happens to him with Bordalás.
A clash of styles. That is what Barça found on the pitch, shorter and more watered than in the previous season, at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. Xavi arranged his usual 4-4-2 since last year with the aim of chewing up a rival accustomed to giving up meters, offering a fight and taking advantage of any mistake to take its toll. The culés did it with the same structure that they handle lately, but with new arrivals in this same transfer market.
Oriol Romeu would have the difficult mission of substituting for Busquets and Gündogan, quite discreet in his league debut, would have to play Gavi, who was impatiently waiting for his chance on the bench. They were the changes of a Barça that was preparing for an exercise in patience.
Getafe
Soria, Damián, Iglesias, Mitrovic (Portu, min. 46), Duarte, Gastón, Aleñá (Lozano, min. 65), Djené, Maksimovic, Mata and Latasa (Borja Mayoral, min. 65).
0
–
0
Barcelona
Ter Stegen, Koundé, Araujo, Christensen (Abde, 46 minutes), Balde, Oriol Romeu (Lamine Yamal, 76 minutes), Frenkie de Jong, Gündogan (Gavi, 79 minutes), Pedri (Ansu Fati, 79 minutes). ), Raphinha and Lewandowski.
Referee: Cesar Soto Grado (Riojano Committee). He warned Mitrovic, Aleña, Damian Suarez, Djene, Gavi and Portu. He sent off Raphinha, Jaime Mata and Xavi Hernandez.
Incidents: Match played at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez before 13,410 spectators.
And it is that the scenario that everyone imagined was fulfilled. Barça planted the defensive line many meters from Ter Stegen’s goal, settled in the opposite field and began to move the ball from side to side to wear down a rival who moved like an accordion, at the pace set by his rival. Xavi asked for “one or two touches” to alleviate the lack of fluidity in a first half with a slow pace with the ball, but a lot of tension.
The culés had the best chances with a shot from Oriol Romeu that licked the strain off the post and with a one-on-one from Raphinha that David Soria deflected. He was a good version of the champion, but everything fell apart as Getafe achieved its goal of driving the Catalans crazy in every dispute. The one who understood this ‘other football’ the worst was Raphinha, who already had a yellow card when, as a result of the tension, he saw the direct red card for elbowing Gastón without the ball before going through the changing rooms.
After the break, Xavi put his men back together to continue taking the initiative despite having to play outnumbered for the remainder of the game. The man from Egar brought on Abde for Christensen and turned the 4-4-2 into a 3-4-2 in which De Jong and Oriol Romeu had to lend a hand at the start from behind and in which Abde could renew his push in the pressure in the opposite field. The plan seemed to work and Barça got down to work again against a Getafe team that was coming down with more players and threatening to break up the game.
Raphinha and Mata are wrong
In one of those Araujo found Jaime Mata’s back and the striker knocked him down. It was the second yellow for the 7, a little more gasoline for a stadium in eruption and more tension for a match that was red hot with half an hour to go.
Barça was superior and had two chances to make their dominance fruitful, but Abde’s lack of aim, very active since his entry, and Damián Suárez under the sticks prevented the score from moving before the third expulsion, that of Xavi. The Egarense coach went away shouting “it’s a shame” and had to see from the locker room entrance the last arreón of his team thanks to the entry of Lamine Yamal, Gavi and Ansu Fati. The culés turned with the push of the youngest.
Yamal entered with the same self-confidence that he showed at the Joan Gamper and was the protagonist in the last minutes. He faced his pair again and again, generated imbalances and put a measured ball to Ansu Fati that the 10 shot over the crossbar in the clearest occasion of the second half. It was not the day for a Barça team that started with the best of intentions but became unhinged as Getafe made them go down into the mud of the Coliseum. To top it off, Soto Grado was warned by the VAR but observed a hand from Gavi before a clear penalty to Araujo. More wood.
2023-08-13 22:20:45
#Geta #Bordalás #drives #Barça #crazy
