This Wednesday in Do Dragao, Barça took a step up the table to be in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The team led by Xavi beat Porto away 0-1 thanks to a solitary goal from Ferran Torres in the first half that served to add three points and reward the resistance of a team that suffered greatly. The culés were overwhelmed for many moments, but sometimes Ter Stegen and other times the couple formed by Koundé and Araujo aborted the danger and finally gave the Catalans a peaceful exit in Europe.
It wasn’t a final, but it seemed like it. Do Dragao had prepared one of those that makes an era, with thousands of cards with the image of the Champions League, a deafening noise and the feeling that curves were coming for the Catalans. Xavi also had that ‘feeling’, who looked at the atmosphere around him and at the same time at Lamine Yamal who, at 16 years old, was presenting himself against the old continent as a starter in the most prestigious club competition. He was the great novelty in a starting eleven in which Ronald Araujo also returned at the back and in which Oriol Romeu resumed command in the engine room alongside Gündogan and the almost veteran Gavi.
Xavi’s idea was to reduce the decibels of a crowd that had its sights set on the possible leadership in case of victory and on Joao Félix, who cannot be forgiven for leaving the blue and white club to go to Benfica. He took the first whistle at the start of the match in which Barça tried to calm Porto’s momentum. The culés wanted tranquility and accumulated long possessions with which to wear down a rival who came out with the knife between his teeth, ready to snack on the group’s favorite. And the thing is that Conceiçao’s script called for vertigo and that involved pressing high in the hope of finding an error by the Barça defense and finishing the actions as soon as possible to avoid scares from the counterattack.
Port
Diogo Costa, Joao Mario (Nico, min. 85), Cardoso, Carmona, Wendell, Varela (Conceiçao, min. 85), Eustaquio, Galeno (Ivan Jaime, min. 85), Romario (Evanilson, min. 64), Pepe y Taremi (Danny Namaso, min. 85).
0
–
1
Barcelona
Ter Stegen, Cancelo, Koundé, Araujo, Balde, Oriol Romeu (Sergi Roberto, min. 69), Gündogan, Gavi, Lamine Yamal (Marcos Alonso, min. 81), Lewandowski (Ferran Torres, min. 34) and Joao Félix ( Fermín López, min. 69).
Goal: 0-1: min. 46, Ferran Torres.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (England). He cautioned Joao Cancelo, Araujo, Cardoso, Xavi, Koundé, Joao Félix, Sergi Roberto and sent off Gavi (min 90 + 3).
Incidents: Match corresponding to the second day of the group stage of the Champions League, played in Do Dragao before 49,722 spectators.
Those were the cards of both teams in a first half in which Barcelona never felt comfortable. Xavi’s men were subdued and at no time were they able to control the energy of the locals. Porto’s initial pressure in the opposing half meant countless long balls from Koundé and Araujo without finding a target and not even when the ‘Dragoes’ ran out of gas did the culés manage to take a step forward.
During that period, Barça settled in the opposite field, but they did so without fluidity in the game and with the constant threat posed by the transitions of skilled footballers like Galeno or Varela. Thus, with Lewandowski replaced after a blow by Ferran Torres, the duel headed unnoticed to half-time and thus, almost on the way to the locker room, Romario disgraced his name with a gift in defense that ended up at the feet of Ferran Torres. The former City man took advantage of the opportunity to beat Diogo Costa and take advantage of a first half with many doubts for the culés.
Portuguese siege
After the restart, Porto tried to recover from the emotional blow caused by the goal before the break. Conceiçao’s team resumed the suffocating pressure, but on this occasion they encountered a much more precise Barcelona when it came to jumping those attacks. Oriol Romeu appeared between the centre-backs to offer relief, Gavi and Gündogan provided an outlet between the lines and Balde and Cancelo began to receive balls without opposition. It was a Barça team with the clearest ideas but fear appeared with two shots from outside the area and with a long shot from Taremi that Koundé aborted when Pepe was already preparing to beat Ter Stegen.
Xavi had contradictory feelings from the sidelines. The Terrasa coach did not see things clearly, but it was difficult for him to find solutions on the bench due to the absences due to injury of Lewandowski, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Raphinha. Those chosen to enter were finally Sergi Roberto, Fermín López and Marcos Alonso, three players who progressively replaced Oriol Romeu, Joao Félix and Lamine Yamal and who entered the field of play to refresh a team that was already showing physical fatigue.
The changes did not serve to improve a scenario in which it was playing downhill against Ter Stegen’s goal. The German goalkeeper appeared against Taremi on two occasions, avoided a one-on-one against Wendell and supported a Barça that ended with a lineup of circumstances due to the absences and the expulsion for a double yellow card of Gavi in the last minutes. Despite this, they withstood the pressure and took an extraordinary loot in the most complicated outing of the group.
2023-10-04 21:21:12
#Barça #learns #suffer #Dragao
