For the game against the number 13 of La Liga, coach Xavi had made a base for Luuk de Jong. Last week, the Dutchman was the big man on the side of Barcelona with the winning goal and he was allowed to prove himself again against Granada. Dani Alves returned to the starting lineup after six years. At 38 years and 247 days, the Brazilian is now the oldest player ever to play for Barcelona in a league game.
Sickbay is emptying
To Xavi’s relief, the infirmary at Barcelona is slowly but surely emptying. The club had to deal with a wave of corona infections in the selection around the turn of the year. More than ten players tested positive and many players were injured.
On Saturday evening, the coach also had access to Memphis Depay. The Dutchman returned to the match selection after a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for almost a month. He still started on the couch. Sergiño Dest was also there again. The match against Granada came too early for Frenkie de Jong. The Orange international is struggling with a muscle strain.
Luuk de Jong shows himself
After ten minutes it seemed that Luuk de Jong opened the score for Barcelona. However, the VAR concluded that Pablo Gavi had been offside by a few millimeters earlier in the attack and so the party for the Catalans was canceled. Not much later, Luuk de Jong showed himself again and it was close to the fact that the Dutchman had gone around the world with a phenomenal scorpion kick. To his own disappointment, the striker saw the leather disappear just over the goal.
Goal De Jong
In the second act, Luuk de Jong had luck on his side. More than ten minutes after the break, he headed the ball hard against the ropes after an assist from Alves and he was therefore rewarded for his strong first half. The goal turned out to be his last move, as Xavi sidelined him shortly afterwards and brought Memphis inside the lines to clinch victory.
Ten minutes before the end, Barcelona had to continue with ten men after Gavi received his second yellow print. Five minutes later, it looked like Pique would also be sent to the dressing room, but the referee spared him. Granada smelled blood and the equalizer was in the air from that moment on. A minute before regular time was over, Antonio Puertas actually made it 1-1. So it was still a painful evening for Barcelona that let the victory slip through their fingers.
Due to Real Sociedad’s victory over Celta (1-0), Barcelona dropped one place in La Liga. It is now sixth with 32 points from twenty matches.
Real Madrid will win
Unlike Barcelona, Real Madrid managed to win on Saturday night. The Valencia of Orange goalie Jasper Cillessen hoped to make it difficult for Carlo Ancelotti’s team, but in the end had to ‘just’ believe it. Real won at home with large numbers: 4-1.
In the opening phase, the Dutch keeper kept Valencia going with some fantastic saves. First he prevented Eder Militao’s opening goal with a cat-like reflex and not much later he also beat Asensio. Valencia owed it to Cillessen that it was still in the game after half an hour.
The home side took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Karim Benzema scored his 300th goal in the shirt of Real Madrid from eleven meters and Cillessen was therefore beaten. Shortly after the break, the Dutchman also received the second goal. Vinícius Júnior was played by Benzema and signed for his thirteenth of the season. It didn’t take long before Cillessen had to clear his goal again, after Vinícius also made his second of the evening: 3-0.
With fifteen minutes left on the clock, Valencia did something back, but the final agreement was ultimately for the home team. Benzema signed for the final score with his second of the evening: 4-1.
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