BarcelonaLet the young people do their thing. Trust them, they can demonstrate everything they know how to do. Two dwarfs with a boy’s face and a desire to take on the world changed the script of a game in which Barça seemed destined to lose. Between Lamine Yamal and Fermín they were responsible for scaring Mallorca, very worthy until then, and managed to add a point (2-2). Little, surely, but it was not a good game from Xavi Hernández’s team again. As happened against Celta, the coach was right with the changes, after a too loose game in the first half. The point leaves Barça half-charged and puts a smile on Girona’s face. If he wins at Villarreal, he will be the sole leader. And all, because between the grass, the permissive referee, the rotations and their own mistakes, Barça left themselves with two points.
Because indeed, the rotations arrived. They always do, like end-of-year exams or quarterly VAT payments. And with rotations come debates about who gets a chance. Iñigo Martinez suspended the test, soft in defense and without order in attack. Raphinha, on the other hand, scored better. In a week full of games, Xavi thought it was the ideal time to make changes, against a Mallorca that had seemed like an easy paper doll to play with in Girona. But no, it wasn’t the day. Mallorca knew how to bully a Barça again very weak in defence, who reacted thanks to the talent and the changes in the second half. Like Celta Day. Luck of the magic of Lamine Yamal, who surrounded by giant central defenders with the face of few friends was doing roulettes, cassocks and dribbles. Like it’s a game.
The match was a little hell for Iñigo in his debut as a starter. The Basque centre-back abused the long passes just on the day Lewandowski was resting on the bench. And defending, partnering with Araujo, he suffered too much with Muriqi’s body from the mischievous runs of Abdon Prats, the Mallorcan who gives everything in every ball for his Mallorca. Already at the start, Muriqi put the hosts ahead in a move in which Ter Stegen failed. The German goalkeeper, with an impeccable service record so far, did not get along with Oriol Romeu and gave the ball away. You can’t give presents to Javier Aguirre’s teams. You open the door to them and, in no time at all, they’ve opened your pantry and are sleeping in your bed.
Catalan defensive mistakes allowed Mallorca to be dangerous in attack, when Barça did not know how to understand a 4-3-3 in which only the character of Gavi and Raphinha seemed to stand out. Gündogan was dark, João Felix intermittent, and Ferran Torres missed the opportunities he had. Raphinha’s luck, who invented the equalizer with a beautiful shot from the front, in one of the first chances for a Barça that could have scored the second before the break, when Mallorca had reunited with doubts. But neither João Felix nor Ferran managed to score. The Mallorcans, yes. Long shot by the goalkeeper, Muriqi who wins it above Romeu and Abdon who mocks everyone to make it 2-1. A hard, unexpected blow. A goal conceded in one of those plays of a lifetime, which are seen in the regional fields. A long ball, a striker comb and barrack. And a defensive mistake, of course. It was time to row against the current again, like the Celta day.
After the two 5-0 thrashings, an oasis of happiness, Barça seemed to enter a wild territory, in which they had to chew sand to get the games going. Against Celta it was necessary to appeal to the epic. Against Mallorca, more or less the same. And to do that, as usual, he asked Lewandowski to enter the pitch. Shortly after, he bet on the youngsters: Lamine Yamal and Fermín. Unlike the match against the Galicians, Xavi decided to take João Felix off the pitch in these changes. And in the first he touched, Lamine forced a penalty. Too bad he wasn’t, as he dropped to try and fool the referee and VAR screens. He didn’t make it. But his entrance began to change everything.
The time of the young
Between Lamine and Fermín, they revolutionized everything. Some young people go to Mallorca to discover the things in life that they don’t teach you at school, and others go there to teach them how to play football. Every time Lamine Yamal took the ball, Mallorca took a few steps back. Raphinha and Lewandowski were his ideal strike partners. The Brazilian’s faith is commendable, he never falters, chasing the much-dreamed-of title. Between them all they invented the tie in almost the only play of the second half, with Fermín making his debut as a goalscorer in the League. No, it wasn’t a good Barça game. Yes, it was for the young Andalusian, who patiently waits for matches like this one. Together they tried to get the winning goal, but you can’t always touch the sky, like on Celta’s day. The draw is still a warning to surfers, to remember that you don’t win with talent alone. A point that pricks Barça’s pride. It’s time to wake up, to look like the team of a few days ago. Luck of the young, in Mallorca. And Raphinha.
Real Mallorca: Rajkovic, G. González (Van der Heyden, 85′), Valjent, Nastasic, Copete, Maffeo (Jaume Costa, 35′), Dani Rodríguez (Manu Morlanes, 85′), Antonio Sánchez (Sergi Darder, 59′ ), Samu Costa, Murigi and Abdon (Larin, 59′). FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen, João Cancelo, Iñigo Martínez (Kounde, 78′), Araujo, Balde, Oriol Romeu (Fermín López, 62′), Gündogan, Gavi, Raphinha, Ferran Torres (Lewandowski, 56′) and João Felix ( Lamine Yamal, 62′). Goals: 1-0 Muriqi (8′), 1-1 Raphinha (42′), 2-1 Abdon (45 + 3′) and 2-2 Fermín López (74′). Referee: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz (Galicia). Yellow cards: Oriol Romeu (37′), Dani Rodríguez (48′), Nastasic (59′) and Javier Aguirre (90′). Red cards: None. Stadium: Son Moix, 19,938 spectators.
2023-09-26 21:33:10
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