Miracles have a lot to do with football.

Barcelona suffered, which stumbled as stony as those that preceded the collapse of Foreman against Ali in Kinshasa.

Villarreal, on the other hand, failed to knock him down.

So Memphis, in the 88th minute, and after a long kick from Ter Stegen, said he believed.

Yes, in miracles.

He slipped the ball between Estupiñán's legs, and only Coutinho had to finish the night with his redeeming penalty.

"Get used to the idea that we've already lost. And I didn't want to answer him anything, in case he wasn't just talking about the game." That feeling, that torment so common in football, tends to accompany those who get used to surviving, not living. Almudena Grandes wrote it in one of her stories (Demonstration of the existence of God). And Barcelona took it as a hallmark. Change will not be easy.

The night was indecipherable.

It would be necessary to split the first act in two to clarify something of what happened.

There was an initial stretch, which lasted 20 minutes, in which Barcelona knew how to find holes in the opponent's defense.

He generated up to four clear chances: two shots off the post, a header from Abde and a shot with the left foot from Gavi;

and two errors by Memphis against goalkeeper Rulli, the second, only on the penalty spot, especially worrying.

Right there, a completely different game started.

And Xavi's team fell apart.

Before Villarreal began to play around, the local fans found reasons to point out the match referee, Soto Grado.

The referee had already started the night very badly, ignoring the stomp given by Parejo to Busquets in the first minute of play.

The action did not even deserve the yellow.

But the refereeing mess was more. Eric García, surprising right-back, inaugurated the witch's train with a backward pass that left Danjuma alone in front of Ter Stegen. Piqué came to the rescue by throwing himself onto the grass. His left hand remained on the ground, while with his right he rejected Danjuma's shot. The VAR did not consider it appropriate to invite the referee to review the action on the monitor, thus agreeing to the first assessment of the judge, who must have understood that the hand did not occupy an unnatural space. They were wrong among all.

But, beyond all that, one would have to wonder the suitability of the plan devised by Xavi for Eric García. Not so much because he had to defend the right-hand bank, but because he spent the game chasing Moi. This one had only to get away from the lime. Pedraza began to sneak through that hole when he saw how Abde did not give his life to face correctly - his dribbles with his curved back are addictive - but also to defend. Emery made the most of the deficiency, although he punished his difficulties with the goal. Danjuma did not know how to beat Ter Stegen. And there Villarreal could already fear the worst.

Barcelona had emerged unscathed from the poor final episode of the first half, where they first lost the ball and then control. But when he left the locker room, the first thing he did was find his forbidden fruit: the goal. Football is like that. Abde, who else, had opened another breach. He moved the game to Jordi Alba, who took the center to the heart of the area. Memphis, embedded between Pau Torres and Albiol, proposed the boot. Rulli took it out as best he could, but Frenkie de Jong, who had not scored for seven months, was ready in waiting and at the coronation. The goal, of course, had to be validated by the VAR, which ended up considering that Memphis was behind the centrals in the first shot.

Not much less did Barcelona improve after seeing themselves ahead on the scoreboard.

He did not know how to get out of the pressure, nor did his players see themselves with the strength to win their duels.

Eric, sunk, took the penalty after grabbing Albiol.

And Mingueza, substitute for the injured Alba, contributed alongside Piqué to the defensive squad.

Between the two they opened the door wide for Chukwueze for him to take the tie with a quarter of an hour from the end.

And luck were the Catalans with the crooked booty of Danjuma, a preamble to the local cataclysm to the rhythm of the liberation of Memphis and the clasp of Coutinho.

Barça finally won a league game away from home.

And he understood that for this he did not even have to play well.

Just believing.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

See links of interest

  • Last News

  • Translator

  • What

  • Holidays 2021

  • 2022 business calendar

  • Home THE WORLD TODAY

  • Master investigative journalism

  • Arsenal - Newcastle United

  • Alavés - Celta de Vigo

  • Empoli - Fiorentina

  • Sampdoria - Verona

  • 1. FC Cologne - Borussia Mönchengladbach