Valladolid de Liga: chronicle, result and goals

He had homework to do when he plays at home, Barça. Of the last seven official matches at the Spotify Camp Nou, he had just managed to win two. It was necessary to make a new fire to be able to make the fans dance to the rhythm of a joyful, seductive melody. Xavi leads a permanent revolution, in which he sends to the bench totemic names like Piqué and Alba, so many years together on the grass and now united on the bench. Against Valladolid, the defense was made up of four midfielders: an average age of 21. In fact, the whole of Barça is becoming a eulogy of youth, of those years when all dreams have yet to be fulfilled. The Barça of Pedri, Araujo and a Gavi who signed a piece of the game, always running up and down. And the Barça of debutant Kounde. A new generation listening to new tunes, ones that older members don’t quite understand, smiling as happily as a grandpa watching his grandson graduate.

The center of gravity in midfield, however, is Sergio Busquets. Xavi doesn’t have the balls to punish Piqué, but he knows that Busquets is untouchable. And in front, another veteran manages to turn everything around him. This is Robert Lewandowski. It had been a long time since a signing had excited the Barça fans so much. In attack, the Polish is the beginning and the end of everything, alpha and omega. He scores goals, but his presence brings down walls. The rival defenders, only to see that his last name as long as a day without bread takes a step towards his goal, tense. The Pole’s movements create spaces for the adventures of the mischievous Pedri and Gavi, but also help to open up the field on the wings. And in that aspect Raphinha gave a lesson with a display of crosses and electric attacks. Dembélé tried, but was not so successful in an attack in which Xavi had left Anoeta’s great hero, Ansu Fati, on the bench. Significant details. Xavi decides the lineups based on the opponent and what he sees in training. Playing well one day does not guarantee you to be a starter, being there from the first minute is not an acquired right. Xavi has the depth of the wardrobe and a range of options. And if Raphinha was a substitute against the Basques, now it’s Ferran’s turn.

Kounde, both on the wing and in the center of the defense

It will be difficult to get right how Xavi’s Barça will play. The philosophy is clear, but depending on the day it will come out with long sides or extremes. With two or three centrals. Everyone will have to taste the coldness of the bench from time to time. With Balde growing into the side that until now bore Jordi Alba’s name, the defense took a step forward, with Kounde initially playing on the right, showing his good ball handling and aggression. In the second half, the Frenchman moved to central when the changes began, one of them being Sergi Roberto whom Xavi recovered for the cause and who found the reward by scoring the last goal of the day. Valladolid could never come out of their hole, scared, cornered by a hungry team that continued to throw stones, blow after blow, even if the game was doomed.

At the break, in fact, it was already clear that all the fish had been sold. First, with a goal in which Lewandowski hunted down a cross at the far post. And then with a target from Pedri, taking advantage of the spaces generated by the Polish. The canary, all talent, makes it so easy. He exudes calmness, as if he had learned to play football as soon as he walked for the first time. He gets along with a Lewandowski who is already the top scorer in the League, after inventing his fourth goal with a magical touch of spur. The Pole is hungry. He has come to win titles and he does not want to waste time. Thus, he spends every match talking to his teammates, to generate complicity, to be able to score even more goals. How hungry, his. The one that was needed for a Barça that has managed to get the Barça people to regain their faith and return to the stadium to enjoy. to dream