Barça rescue: three plans after hitting rock bottom
Classification. 26th matchday
It could happen that this footballingly and emotionally unstable Barcelona ended the season by winning the League.
Who already knows what these pandemic times and the mediocrity in which Spanish football is being installed can bring.
It could happen that nothing mattered, neither the institutional interim that will come to an end today, nor the temporary imprisonment of the person who left the chair empty, nor the failed summer frenzy of
Leo Messi
, nor the continuous injuries that
Ronald Koeman
he is saving as best he can.
In this wire that their own circumstances have been drawing for them, Barça has discovered that they have a survival instinct that they never thought they had and they see themselves two points behind Atlético, which they must demonstrate this afternoon against Real Madrid if they can to be Superman again or not.
[Narration and statistics (0-2)]
While the mattress makers think about it and the whites chew on their own miseries, Barça is making its way when no one was expecting it, embracing its two great contemporary certainties,
Marc-André Ter Stegen
and Messi.
Both were in El Sadar the supports of a correct Barcelona without more, away from the torrent shown days before against Sevilla.
Those 120 minutes of effort were not free, Koeman will think, despite the fact that he only conceded the change of
Antoine Griezmann
for
Ousmane Dembélé
and the forced entry of
Samuel Umtiti
instead of the injured
Gerard Piqué
.
Better tired players than residuals when no season on the calendar is avoidable, the Dutchman would think.
He got it right.
The resistance of this revitalized Osasuna after a couple of months of anxiety that never questioned
Jagoba Arrasate
was valuable and the Navarrese team went to sleep with little or nothing to reproach themselves, perhaps their lack of edge.
He did his job, but he ran into a huge Ter Stegen who took the few chances he had and a Messi who once again took advantage of that special connection that he has cultivated for years with
Jordi Alba
.
Only with lateral centers
That was how the goal that paved the night for the Barça team was born.
After half an hour into the game, the side drew a deep uncheck and the '10' broke Osasuna's defensive line with a parable that no one saw coming.
Alba discovered himself alone against
Sergio Herrera
and, although his position was listed, he chose not to look for a new partner but to resolve with a violent shot that overwhelmed the red goalkeeper, without time or space to articulate a response.
By then, Ter Stegen had already had to earn his salary against
Kike Barja
and shortly afterwards he did it again against
Rubén García
.
Exceptions in a context of Barça territorial dominance, although always with little depth and fewer shots than advisable.
Only in a short stretch of the second half did the Navarrese really threaten through lateral centers.
As soon as Arrasate removed
Jonathan Calleri
, the danger disappeared.
Domesticated again by the calm that Barça found in possession of the ball, Osasuna saw his comeback options erased with
Ilaix Moriba's
first goal
as a professional, with Messi again assisting.
A powerful and precise left foot after a cutout in the front.
There is a Barcelona footballer that has already added 16 league games without losing, eight consecutive away victories.
More reason to believe that, why not, maybe I can still compete for this League of Fools.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Leo Messi
Ronald Koeman
Ousmane Dembélé
Real Madrid
sports
FC Barcelona
Sevilla FC
Jordi Alba
Ter Stegen
Antoine Griezmann
CA Osasuna
First division
football
LaLiga Santander 2020 - 2021 Barcelona is reborn in Seville
LaLigaJordi Alba, a problem and a blessing
LaLigaThe dates of the agony where the title will be resolved
See links of interest
2021 business calendar
Burnley - Arsenal
Real Valladolid - Getafe
Spezia - Benevento
Borussia Mönchengladbach - Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Eintracht Frankfurt - VfB Stuttgart