Football: in the midst of corruption scandal, FC Barcelona wins the Clásico and rushes to the title
Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessié scored the winning goal for FC Barcelona against Real Madrid on March 19, 2023 at Camp Nou. © AFP / LLUIS GENE
Text by: Valentin Berg Follow
3 min
Immersed in the scandal of corruption of refereeing, FC Barcelona won the shock against Real Madrid (2-1) by winning in the final seconds, this Sunday, March 19 at Camp Nou. Ivorian Franck Kessié was decisive in scoring the winning goal for Barcelona in added time.
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The end of the suspense in La Liga? At the top of the Spanish league with nine points ahead of Real Madrid (56 points, 2nd), FC Barcelona approached this Clásico with the firm intention of sealing its fate in a delicate context.
On March 10, the Barcelona prosecutor's office indicted the club, but also its former presidents Josep Maria Bartomeu (2014-2020) and Sandro Rosell (2010-2014) and the former number 2 of the Spanish arbitration José Maria Enriquez Negreira for "corruption between individuals in the sports sector", "breach of trust" and "forgery of commercial documents". ». Heavy loads that could eventually lead the Catalan club to be demoted or be stripped of titles won by the Spanish League, or even UEFA.
Entangled in this corruption scandal for several weeks, the Catalan club had to succeed in ignoring the extra-sporting context to best approach this Clásico. "I will have time to explain to you who, why and how they are orchestrating this campaign. Do not doubt that we will defend ourselves. And not only will we defend ourselves, but we will attack," Barcelona president Joan Laporta promised in a message posted on March 17.
Culers, you can be calm. Barça is innocent of the accusations made against it and is the victim of a campaign, that now involves everyone, to harm its honorability. It is no surprise, and we will defend Barça and prove that the Club is innocent. Many will be forced to rectify.
— Joan Laporta Estruch🎗 (@JoanLaportaFCB) March 12, 2023
Ivorian Franck Kessié decisive
Attack, they did it from the start this Sunday night against Madrid. But despite several good chances at the very beginning of the match, such as Lewandowski's strike (3rd) or Raphinha's cross header (6th) each time well pushed away by Thibaut Courtois, FC Barcelona was surprised against the course of the game by a goal against his side Ronald Araujo (0-1, 9th). Cut off in their momentum, the Blaugranas then let the Madrid players put their foot back on the ball and increase the pressure on the cage of Ter Stegen. Barcelona finally got their head back in the right place just before half-time, with Sergi Roberto's equaliser who took a ball pushed back into the box (1-1, 45th).
The start of the second half was fairly even, with each team taking turns occupying the opposing surface without however managing to find the net. As the match sank into a false rhythm, Raphinha could have unlocked the match after a beautiful volley (74th) but Thibaut Courtois, attentive, intervened near his left post. A few minutes later, Marco Asensio thought to give victory to the Merengues by slipping a ball close to the post to deceive the Catalan goalkeeper (81st), but his goal was then canceled for offside.
The light came from Franck Kessié at the very end of the meeting. After a good center of Alejandro Balde in the box, the Ivorian midfielder left no chance to the Madrid goalkeeper and released his team in extra time (2-1, 90th + 2). With this success acquired in pain, FC Barcelona takes a big step towards the title in La Liga and leaves Real Madrid 12 points apart. Enough to ensure a quiet end of the season on the field for Barcelona, if not serene behind the scenes.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/89tuq9NeNN
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 19, 2023
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