Barça showed against Manchester United that they can compete in Europe again. Gone are the not so distant times of disappointments and failures, of humiliating defeats and shameful eliminations. This new Barça, which is still under construction, has recovered part of its lost prestige thanks to the courage it showed against the English at the Camp Nou. The match was not won, but a more important victory was achieved: it was a reputational triumph. The return at Old Trafford, next Thursday, will decide the future of the Blaugrana team in the Europa League. But in the roadmap for Xavi and Laporta, the continental tournament is not a priority. The priority, the great objective, is the League. And the coach showed it by rotating in defense against Ten Hag’s team: two indisputable starters such as Christensen and Balde remained on the bench to bring on Marcos Alonso and Jordi Alba.
For the Blaugrana coach, the League matches (and also the Cup) are more important than those of the Europa League, even though the second European division has more international media significance than local tournaments. At the club they are very clear that this project must grow little by little. With the inescapable pressure that being Barça means and the need to win titles, but with the consistency that you cannot go from nothing to everything in one season. The foundations of a champion team are being laid, with a generation of very young players and despite gigantic financial difficulties. Winning a ‘triplet’ League-Cup-Super Cup of Spain would be a tremendous success that would give a definitive boost to the Blaugrana resurrection.
THE GOALS OF LEWANDOWSKI AND THE LOW OF PEDRI
To achieve this, Barça needs to recover the best version of Lewandowski. The Pole works like the hardest, against United he fought until the last second with the defenses… but he has been at odds with the goal for weeks. The striker has only scored 5 goals in the last 11 games he has played (two of them against Ceuta in the Cup), when his performance before the World Cup was much better: 18 goals in 17 games. He’s just your typical down-and-out streak. That he will pass sooner rather than later. But without Lewandowski’s goals, everything is more difficult. As difficult as it will be to play the next 6-8 games without Pedri. The muscle injury of the canary is a very hard setback for Xavi, who had turned the young midfielder into the compass of the new Barça. He will have to reinvent the team. Again.