• 1-0 at Camp Nou. Narration and statistics

It would not hurt that Quique Setién, with his vision as a chess player, used one of the teachings Kasparov used to explain his success and attributed to his admired Kafka: "Everything is condensed in a single moment that decides our life" . You just have to be prepared for when you arrive. He was found by the new coach of Barcelona in his debut with 20 minutes left to sunset. Just at the same moment when Germán, central of Granada, was expelled, Riqui Puig finally appeared in the field. A footballer often and fragile in appearance, say those who had him locked in the subsidiary. Because there will always be those who think that this is played with the body and feet, not with the head. Riqui, tiny blessing, went to the corner to steal the ball from Doors. And everything flowed. Busquets thought. Griezmann opened in channel. Arturo Vidal discovered his spur. And Messi, with his right, blessed Setién before the scourge of the wind. Nothing is simple given the immensity of Camp Nou.

Soccer has a lot to do with comedy. It is not difficult to be in evidence because this sport, in reality, is like life itself. Literature helps us to decorate it. After days going around revolutions of a madman - is there something more beautiful? -, claim the transfer of La Masia to Camp Nou, endless changes, arrows and more arrows and countless tactical drawings, each more surreal, arrived Setién and, so hot, he proposed an eleven holder who would have signed the despised Valverde with blood. That is, with Rakitic and Arturo Vidal as companions of Busquets, and even Umtiti ahead of Lenglet. But this, luckily, is not just about names. It goes attitude. Of labor involvement in a dressing room of stars. It goes to open the field and attend to the heart. And, of course, it goes back to recovering the importance of the ball. For too long, a strange entity on the grass.

Perhaps many will have forgotten it because more than 30 years have passed. Three days before Johan Cruyff premiered as a Barcelona coach in the League, the Dutchman set up a training of almost three hours. Not even the oldest of the place remembered such a long session. He put the players to triangulate again and again. The goal was for them to learn to find solutions accompanied by the ball, not panting behind their seams. Julio Alberto, Carrasco and Serer, who had a hard time following that special rhythm of work, were punished with a few races. «You insist on making the difficult difficult. You are cheating yourself ». Cruyff insisted. Thus began the Dream Team.

4-3-3 and 3-4-4

Nobody expects Setién to build his Dream Team with soccer players who, for the most part, have already done everything in this sport. But there are two issues: aesthetics and results. The Cantabrian was put to it offering several tactical nuances. Although in defense it maintained a bureaucratic 4-3-3, in attack the soccer players tried to look for their place in a 3-5-2 that, at times, became a 3-4-4. Sergi Roberto closed. Ansu Fati and Jordi Alba granted breadth. Busquets, instead of recruiting among the centrals, took a step forward in search of alliances. While, in the absence of Luis Suarez, the coach opted for the double false nine, with Messi and Griezmann always awaiting creation. Not so much of the auction.

It was evident that the center of the field was no longer a simple passageway to become the engine room. The ball was circulating with something brighter than before and the Catalans tried to always pass the ball to the first touch. There was intent and desire on the part of the day laborers. But there were still occasions. There was a lack of strength in the rival area.

In fact, that Granada so well delivered by the youngest coach of First, Diego Martinez, scourge of Barcelona in Los Cármenes, did not happen especially in the first act. After those first 20 minutes in which Ansu Fati managed to shoot a few times without much success, time seemed to stop. Rui Silva, the Portuguese goalkeeper of the Granada, watched the scene as if it were an endless sequence plane. Without Suarez and his special way of solving situations - the Uruguayan had participated in the last ten goals of Barcelona in the League before his injury -, the good luck was happening again through Messi. The Argentinian, whom the change of the times brings him without care, associated with Alba to stay within a span of the goal when the first act already fainted.

Eteki and the stick

But a spark was missing for the game to finally explode. So that the possession and the territorial dominion acquired meaning before it was the Granada who rebelled. Because the night began to acquire a cloudy color. Yan Eteki even crashed the ball in the post after a loss of Sergi Roberto.

That's why Setién recruited Riqui Puig. The peace of Granada had to end before Barcelona ended up being consumed. The entrance of the claimed canterano, already with vitola de salvador in the Camp Nou, coincided with the expulsion of Germán. The central, which had already been reprimanded, left at the wrong time in his area to take Messi. The referee, led by extreme zeal, chose to leave visitors with a man less than 20 minutes from the end. Nothing would be the same. Even more with Riqui prepared for his glory episode.

The sweetness with which Messi topped Granada did nothing but match what was seen on the first night of Setién. The narcotic effect of an overdose was stuck in the environment.

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  • sports
  • football
  • First division
  • FC Barcelona
  • Granada CF
  • Leo Messi
  • Quique Setién
  • Ansu Fati
  • Arturo vidal
  • Jordi Alba

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