What is life if not suffering and survival? Why should football be any different?
Barcelona was stunned by
Galatasaray
, whom no one had taken into account despite leading the group stage of the Europa League.
That team, supported by two remarkable central defenders (
Nelsson
and
Marcao
) and a goalkeeper that no one took into account in Barcelona (
Iñaki Peña
), carried out an emotional survival exercise at the Camp Nou.
Xavi Hernández
's
men will have no choice but to play for access to the quarterfinals in Istanbul, where stage fright makes sense.
Domènec
Torrent
, now a Galatasaray coach, is being pursued by a fame that can become very damning.
He lived closely the birth of
Pep Guardiola
in Barcelona.
He climbed the steps thanks to his obsessive search for tactical answers to the dilemmas that the Santpedor coach found himself in, who ended up making him his main assistant at both
Bayern
and
Manchester City
.
But
Dome , who is one of those brave coaches in choosing destinations -in 2020 he already tried to redefine
Flamengo
's particular football imaginary
Brazilian - continues to try to prove that it deserves a story of its own.
Something that he will only achieve by understanding his own fears and awakening those of the rival.
Like he did at the Camp Nou.
Torrent rejected the temptation to feed his ego in such an appetizing setting.
She prioritized living.
He moved away from the ball, refused to press in the rival field, brought his midfielders close to the chins of his central defenders and arranged an aid system in the lane where first
Adama
and then
Dembélé
were shipwrecked.
Araujo's torment
Although nothing like the torment to which the Galatasaray coach subjected
Araujo
.
Torrent blocked the exit of
Eric García
and
Frenkie de Jong
,
and ordered his players to leave the Uruguayan alone.
And Araujo, with the whole field ahead of him and with the rival footballers moving away from him, could only walk towards a black hole.
No technical resources to fall back on.
Contributing to the constructive blackout, of course, was the absence of
Piqué
and
Sergio Busquets
from the start , and the low incidence of
Nico González
in his return to ownership.
Although the disharmony also reached the offensive front, with
Memphis , little given to sticking to the lime, occupying the zone of influence of a blurred
Ferran Torres
for longer than it should
.
The best options for Barcelona in the first half, thus, could only be generated from individual outbursts.
Memphis had them, with a free kick and a shot from the top of the area to which Iñaki Peña responded with pleasure, a goalkeeper that Barcelona never noticed and who tries to vindicate himself in his Turkish loan.
Those situations were far from intimidating Galatasaray, who could still rely on
Aktürkoglu
.
The flashing winger is called
Harry Potter
, though his dying football should bring him closer to
Voldemort
.
A footballer of those who enjoy running off the cliff, and who was about to score the opening goal after breaking
Dest
and
Frenkie
.
Eric García prevented his shot from ending up staying in the squad.
Xavi had no choice but to correct himself as soon as possible.
He had to find air both in the interior corridors and on the left side, so he enlisted Piqué, Busquets and Dembélé to replace the players who had worked the worst: Araujo, Nico and Ferran Torres.
Memphis would also be erased half an hour from the end so that it was
Aubameyang
who would try to hunt down a shot in the area.
Luuk de Jong
was the last to enter.
Not even with those.
Galatasaray fell back even further, hoping that between their central totemics and Iñaki Peña they would pierce Barça's patience.
Busquets, Alba, Adama and Dembélé stayed halfway.
The Camp Nou breathed when they saw how
Gomis
' goal was annulled for offside.
And Barça wondered how the hell a Galatasaray that wanders 32 points behind the leader in its league could resist so much.
That's life.
It's football.
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Know more
Xavi Hernandez
Europa LeagueThe bad memory of Barça in UEFA and the night he had to play hours after the 11-M attacks
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