BarcelonaA hard-fought victory for Barça at Elche (1-3) to continue for another week as league leader no matter what Real Madrid do. Next, some hot notes.
‘One of us’. For Barça, the match was a lot of blowing and blowing bottles. Without Lewandowski in the eleven, the pressure was even more incisive, and Elche, who suffered the capital absence of Febas in midfield, had a lot of trouble to overcome it. The home side made a lot of mistakes at the start and were too easily messed up in defence, to the point where they conceded as many as 17 chances in just one half. In the power of Flick’s picker, Sarabia’s bold proposal at times seemed like a caricature. In the second half, things evened out a bit. That’s why it was so important that Lamine Yamal made it 0-1 in the 6th minute, just in case. The young star capitalized on a false start from Iñaki Peña, who did his still-owning club a favour.
Oh, when you prioritize winning over pleasing yourself. Lamine Yamal’s game, however, went far beyond the first goal. It’s been weeks since Rocafonda is approaching the version of himself that left the whole world speechless. Without going any further, this week he was the clear architect of two triumphs (Copenhagen and Elche) for which the team had to sweat more than expected. At Martínez Valero, poor John Donald had a great time dizzying, whom Sarabia kept on the field despite being conditioned by a premature yellow card. His repertoire of tricks also beat to serve the target of tranquility, which Rashford only had to accompany to the illegal net. When Lamine Yamal is less anxious to please himself, he will be an even better footballer. let’s fit
Opportunities taken. Lamine Yamal ended the match with a crinkled nose from a hit to the groin. Raphinha only played half due to some discomfort. And Kounde couldn’t finish the 90 minutes either. Players notice that the schedule hurts. Also Pedri, who watched the game from home. Without the canary, Barça have less control in general, but his departure is also an opportunity to discover, for example, that De Jong knows how to do more than drive the ball and make his players desperate haters. The Dutch maneuvered brilliantly in the 1-2, the work of Ferran Torres. And mention also for the contribution of Bernal, who on Wednesday changed the scenery of the duel against Copenhagen and on Saturday showed why Míchel wanted to take him on loan to Girona. Berguedà is pure caviar.
Flick does pee with his. We were told that Cancelo arrived at Barça to add depth to the squad in a context of difficulty due to Christensen’s long-term absence and Araujo’s confidence issues. It was also argued to us that, despite Flick asking for a centre-back in the winter market, the Portuguese full-back, who wanted to put himself on the map for the World Cup, would allow Kounde to be seen more often in the centre-back position, where he has not played since his first season at Barça. A few games have passed and you only have to look at the lineups to see that these reasonings were not exactly those of Flick, but those of the people who decide on the sports planning, among which the German is relatively bright. Kounde always plays as a winger. And, if he asks for the change, Cancelo is not the first choice to relieve him. As Guardiola would say, Hansi pisses himself. Don’t stop doing it.
