Barcelona lives an ordeal

Barcelona has stopped enjoying.

He no longer trusts his football, but rather his fears.

has stopped at the first border post, and

, overwhelmed by casualties, twists parts and schemes in the hope that the labyrinth has more exits than they intuit.

The ordeal at San Siro that left him badly injured in the Champions League was followed by an agonizing victory against Celta.

wore a rosary tied to his foot against

.

The victory, at least, allows the azulgrana to reach the classic against Real Madrid at the top of the table.

Although there is no other common thread than bewilderment.

[Narration and statistics]

And that in the first half Barcelona was a much saner team.

Something had to do with the fact that their football did not depend on

's pandemonium so that it was

and

who danced at will.

Imposing the canary the elegance of his waltz, and the Sevillian the strength of his heart, the Barça team showed that this should be the only way.

When they stopped meeting, Celta managed to make the azulgrana complex.

Bad symptom.

Barcelona will play its sporting, economic and institutional stability on Wednesday in a duel with no return against Inter.

Because everything in this Barcelona hangs on the contradiction.

They are one loss to the

from returning to the continental subsoil, but they lead the League.

With a debt of 1,000 million euros as a slab.

In agreement.

But with enough mortgage capacity to keep alive the flame of illusion.

A torch that

lights in front of that handful of delegates who bless everything that is presented to them behind a computer screen.

He likes to tell the plenipotentiary president that his Barça is not supported by a state or a tycoon.

Also that the club is "owned by the members."

Meanwhile, banks and investment funds continue their progress through the intestines of the entity.

In soccer, you know, everything depends on how you articulate a story.

Piqué and Alba, from condemned to headlines

Little grace must have made the captains that Laporta, before a key week for the future of the club, pointed out to them for not wanting to cut their salary.

Both those who live in the office and those who run the locker room think more or less the same, that both

and

should look for life as soon as possible.

Although with a big difference.

Xavi Hernández will be judged by his results, not by his nods to the presidency.

And before the piling up of legs in the infirmary, he now needs the coach to get hold of the damned.

And the price is high.

Piqué, thus, was a starter against Celta and from there they may not move him against Inter or Real Madrid if

does not recover.

He did what he could in the face of celestial harassment.

Jordi Alba, whistled viciously, appeared at the start, giving himself the twisted circumstance that in the eleven they formed three left-handed sides.

Marcos

was central, while

returned to the right side.

All convoluted.

The main person responsible for Barcelona leaving Celta breathless in the first half hour was

.

to meet him

, who took advantage of his imposing body to start advancing down the field, rejecting rivals.

Until Gavi got fed up and, like a

without a slingshot, he knocked the

Norwegian

The azulgrana crowned that good first leg of the night with the opening goal.

Alba tossed to Gavi and he scrambled to the baseline to cross.

rejected towards the center and Pedri only had to hole in the net.

And he is already.

Barcelona's advantage had the opposite effect than expected, beyond the fact that referee

denied

a penalty from

.

The Celta winger stuck his left leg in the face of the Brazilian's progression.

But the referee, with questionable criteria, responded to the end that had been thrown.

The Lewandowski Disconnect

With Lewandowski as disconnected as in the Giuseppe Meazza, and

making the mistake his only reason for being, Barça began to tremble beautifully against Celta who made the second act their own.

The Galicians not only took the ball away from Barça, but also their pride.

Between Ter Stegen and Marcos Alonso they bailed out water, Larsen had a goal annulled for Galán's offside and, already in added time, Paciencia shot at the post before the referee again annulled the play for the same reason.

The Camp Nou fans greeted the end of the match as if they had suddenly been released from a straitjacket.

Relieved, but lost.

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• FC Barcelona

• Ter Stegen

• Xavi Hernandez

• RC Celta de Vigo