Joan García & Fermín: Espanyol’s Midfield Switch-Off

This Saturday, Barça hit the table in the Catalan derby. Hansi Flick’s team won 0-2 in the RCDE Stadium cauldron and did so with a superb Joan García who shone on his return to what was his home and thanks to two definitive actions by Fermín. The Huelva native appeared in the second half to assist Dani Olmo and Lewandowski and secure three points that put pressure on a Real Madrid that will play again this Sunday, seven points behind its biggest rival.

And there was a lockup. The Espanyol fans prepared a cauldron of the era, with Joan García at the epicenter of the anger, and generated an atmosphere that his team was going to join very soon. Manolo González’s men put a lot of pressure in the first minutes against a Barça team that had a hard time settling on the pitch. The substitution of Pedri and the inaccuracies caused by the high pace set by the locals did not help either, very intense and with three players short-circuiting the Barça engine room and in charge of assisting the sides.

It was like this even though Flick knew very well about the parakeet plan. The German coach first wanted to reduce that push by minimizing risks, making his rival wear down after the ball, but he entered into a dynamic that only served to make his team run out of ideas. Barça did not have fluidity in the first act, they did not get Lamine Yamal to have one against one and they were unable to find Raphinha between the lines who loses weight in the game when he acts as a midfielder. Without their best weapons, the culés were flat, they barely tested Dimitrovic and could even have been at a disadvantage if Joan García had not appeared in a one-on-one against Roberto and with a prodigious save after a point-blank shot by Pere Milla.

After the restart, Flick read the problem and brought on Fermín for Rashford. The change placed Raphinha in the left-handed profile, but Barça did not finish finding solutions to dismantle a tremendously organized Espanyol. The culés still lacked depth and, to make matters worse, they lived with the constant threat of an indefatigable Roberto who did everything well except finishing. He missed alone against the culé goal and ran into Joan García again in a one-on-one in which he had too much time to decide and which served to prove once again that the new Barça goalkeeper does not understand stage fright.

It was the straw that broke the camel’s back for a Flick who still couldn’t find the key and who was going to burn the ship with the entry of Pedri, Dani Olmo and Lewandowski. The game continued, however, to heat up. The stands pressed with even more faith than in the first minute, Manolo González’s players won every dispute and Barça saw how its plan to wear down Espanyol did not bear fruit. The parakeets were indestructible and were not going to give up during 85 minutes of real strength in which they probably deserved more.

Everything changed in a wonderful reverse from Fermín in the midfield. The one from El Campillo disrupted the perfect gear of the locals and found Dani Olmo, who did the rest with a memorable shot into the top corner to beat Dimitrovic and put an end to the Spanish resistance. Lewandowski sentenced after a great play by Fermín and secured three points supported by Joan García, who shone on his return to the RCDE Stadium, and the champion’s punch that never fails.