A long month later Barça returns to Bilbao. He left San Mamés listening to the euphoria of the stands for Barça’s elimination from the Cup and Xavi’s team will return to a stage where the enthusiasm has not disappeared. Then, Barça was around ten points away from Madrid. The third white draw in five days, last night at Mestalla, gives the Barça team the option of reducing it to six, and reopening interest in the League. Girona, if they win in Mallorca, would be four.
In Bilbao they don’t have those problems. “We have to park the final because we have to compete in the league, we cannot put ourselves in an urn,” he warned. Ernesto Valverde, trying to get all of Bilbao out of the cloud. “We can’t start playing the final now because otherwise we will arrive tired,” he said with humor.
Iñaki Peña comes out of the tunnel of collejas that he went through for his birthday, just like Robert Lewandowski for the award for the best player of the month in LaLiga. / Andreu Dalmau / Efe
“We have to put the final aside because we have to compete in the league, we can’t put ourselves in a box”
From 4-2 to 3-0
San Mamés continues celebrating since that 4-2 that endorsed Barça and that has extended to 3-0 over Atlético on Wednesday. Barça left unstitched and eliminated. With the seams frayed, four days later they hosted Villarreal and conceded five goals. The tear induced Xavi to anticipate his departure, giving up the contract until 2025. He hasn’t regretted it. “Today…”, she warned twice, leaving the door open to a possible reconsideration if Barça ended up stitched together and elegant with a great end to the season.
He returns to San Mamés recomposed, with four wins and two draws that Xavi has attributed, in part, to the announcement of his departure. But on the grass Cathedral football will be discussed. Athletic is flying euphoric and Barça has calmed down. He even smiles with the endorsement of the 4-0 against Getafe.
Xavi heads to training this Saturday. / VALENTÍ ENRICH
“We are prepared for what awaits us,” said Xavi, alluding to the solid idiosyncrasy of the team that Valverde prepares and the fresh memory of the recent visit. Athletic is the third best home team in the League and has only succumbed in one game of the 13 played: the first of the tournament against Madrid (0-2). Barça has not yet lost a visitor.
The greatest physical power
And what awaits Barça, according to Xavi, is to face the most powerful team in the League according to the statistical parameters used by the clubs, the one with the greatest physical intensity. “We have to match their values in terms of faith, soul and rhythm, and then play in the best possible way,” explained the Barça coach. Given the impossibility of counteracting the red and white physical power, Barça must appeal to cunning and its technical ability, being more vertical in attacks, more cunning to find the spaces that will be in the advanced defense and Faster in ball handling.
Win duels and play better
Xavi highlighted that Barça has players to win duels. He named Araujo, Koundé, Iñigo, Christensen, but with them, all defenders, you can avoid defeats, not build victories. He will particularly need the inspiration of Pedri, Gündogan and De Jong to build on and the effectiveness of Lewandowski (six goals in five games) to avoid the fifth defeat on the eighth visit in recent times.
Athletic will make changes, some forced (Nico Williams and Dani Vivian are suspended and Yuri Berchiche, injured), and other volunteers, some of their men needing a break. Barça has not yet recovered Ferran Torres.
2024-03-03 05:01:18
#Barça #returns #San #Mamés #euphoric #Cup
