BarcelonaHarsh defeat for Barça against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup (4-1). Vinícius, author of three goals before the break, made a real mess of the Barcelona defense in a duel in which Araujo ended up being sent off. Xavi, discussed again. Next, some hot notes.
An expected defeat. They say that in the classics the forces are equal. That those who get there wrong can come out strengthened and those who do it with the arrow upwards can end up sheared at the hands of the eternal rival. Following this logic, many fans thought, after Thursday’s insipid victory against Osasuna, that Barça would once again be Barça in the classic in Saudi Arabia. Because football mixes well with faith and often dribbles around exact science. But, alas!, reality was very harsh with the dreamers and proved the reason for the vinegars, the pessimists. Xavi’s team, tightrope walker and erratic for months, committed all the sins he had shown. Soft in defense and not very fine in attack, he fell early. And that’s what hurts the most. It was obvious that Madrid would easily chew through such tenderness.
And now what? Well, this is the question that all Barcelona fans will now be asking. Many people will want Xavi sacked midway through the season just as Bartomeu was asked to sack Valverde four years ago after losing a Super Cup. However, a decision of this nature is of little use if there is no money for anything or an alternative beyond Márquez, who has not done much more merit than being a great ex-player and belonging to the court of loyalists to Mendes and Laporta and his entourage Terminating a coach who has just won a very meritorious League (and renewing his contract) would be too populist a coup and would tear the umbrella of a president too worried about taking pictures with sheikhs with savior infules and too little to endow the club that runs talent and knowledge – and not empty belief – that are needed in times of crisis. The ball is just a symptom.
An indentation in the open field. New approach against Madrid can sometimes work, but it can also pose a lethal risk. This time, in Riyadh, Xavi’s bet, with a double pivot and three midfielders, went wide from the first minute. With the lines separated and the pressure out of step, the advanced defense – usual at Barça – was a gift for the cavalcades of Vinícius, author of three goals before the break. Not even three Araujos would have been able to stop the bleeding in the space of the white attackers. The Uruguayan, again a right back in a classic, gave the shaft to a Kounde who, once again, left much to be desired in his ideal theoretical position. How the leadership of the injured Iñigo Martínez is missed…
Some yes, others no. As Barca looked to have recovered from Vinícius’ opening double strike thanks to Lewandowski, who scored a goal that was as beautiful as it was sterile, the Brazilian cut back into space to provoke Araujo’s penalty which Martínez Munuera missed have doubts to whistle. Rigorous, everything must be said, but above all the object of a comparative grievance with a similar move – with Tchouaméni – that the Barcelona defender himself suffered as a victim in the La Liga classic that ended 1-2 in favor of Madrid. What in Montjuïc was a “continue, continue“, in Riyadh he went to the eleven meters. While it is no excuse, it does not hurt to point it out after a week of noise directed at Negreira.
2024-01-14 20:52:25
#defeat #Madrid #coming #future #badass
