Barça advances and suffers another shock in the Cup

Before match time was reached, Barça believed they had their ticket to the round of 16 of the Cup in their hand. But there is never a calm game for the Blaugranas, not even when it seemed like they had done the job well.

Looking and asking for the time, shocked by how Barcelona defeated Barbastro, a team that is struggling in the Second RFEF (2-3), with a final fight between Xavi and some players from the rival team.

There was no peace in Barcelona because Adria de Mesa responded to Fermín and Raphinha’s goals, taking advantage of the weakness in a corner kick absurdly given by João Félix. And defended even more absurdly, a sign that Barça does not learn from its mistakes.

Another narrow victory

When he doesn’t throw away the first parts, as he used to do, he throws the second parts in the trash. There is no way for him to have a peaceful, reliable encounter from start to finish. There is no way. He doesn’t know how to do it.

Not even when Lewandowski, who scored a penalty in what should have been a reassuring 1-3, and Vitor Roque, who had a clear chance but failed, coincide on the same team in a moment of emergency. Another one for a Barça that suffers more than what is expected of a team that must be consistent. Barça won by the minimum. Something that is no longer news.

That goal from De Mesa, which was 1-2, filled Barbastro with hope and spoiled the good Barça performance thanks to the dynamism of Fermín. Modern, aggressive interior with a goal that opened the way to victory, expanded by Raphinha’s goal.

Irregular party

The placidity of the first half later disappeared in an irregular second half because Barça lost control. Xavi was so angry with this unexpected decline in his team that he turned to the ‘sacred cows’, like Gündogan and Lewandowski, because he feared the worst.

Synthesized in a loss of Oriol Romeu that caused anguish in the Barça defense, forcing the coach to replace him while he left the pitch crestfallen and dejected.

Iñigo Martínez returns and is injured

Everything good about Barça’s start was blurred later. The good news broadcast with that energetic staging later faded when, in addition, Iñigo Martínez was barely on the field for 10 minutes. He was coming off an injury that kept him out for a month and he was injured again. He made the Barça team dirty until Lewandowski’s penalty came to end that agony.

Or so Barça believed, an unstable team by nature, as can be detected in the nerves that its coaching staff conveys. And he sees that Xavi didn’t want distractions. Not on the board, not in the attitude, not in the game. The Cup, if it is won, is much more than a title, especially if the League is not as good as last season.

Barça started with energy, articulated with an unprecedented defense with Koundé (right back), Araujo (center and captain), Christensen (left-handed center) and Héctor Fort, the youngster from the reserve team who occupied the left flank. It is the first time that he played in that position, forced by circumstances since neither Cancelo nor Balde were ready for the Cup. But they will travel to Riyadh.

Ferran Torres, from ‘nine’

Xavi’s team got off to a dynamic start, deciding to play without a pure ‘nine’. He rested Lewandowski and preferred to leave Vitor Roque on the bench, so he placed Ferran Torres as a center forward, accompanied by Raphinha and João Félix, who regained his place in the starting eleven.

With that traditional tactical model of the 4-3-3, there was room for Fermín’s dynamism and for Oriol Romeu to feel important for one night. At the beginning, a good pass to Raphinha, poorly managed by him. His shot was good, rejected by a Barbastro defender, who was overwhelmed by that furious Barça start.

Fermín, the interior that arrives and gets it right

Stopped, yes, at the beginning by Arnau Fàbrega, the goalkeeper. Agile goalkeeper of the Huesca team. Agile and feline because he stopped with his hands or cleared with his feet. Only through the success of the former Olot goalkeeper was it understood that the scoreboard would not move.

But then, and with an excellent counterattack, after Araujo recovered a ball – Barbastro called for a foul, but the referee did not see it that way -, Barça took the lead on the scoreboard.

It all stems from Frenkie de Jong’s pass to Raphinha, who assisted Fermín, who went alone to the edge of the small area. An interior that arrives at the right time is a treasure for any coach. It was not the only occasion in which the young Andalusian showed his intelligence. First; 0-1; then a tender headbutt after another excellent connection with Frenkie.

And as Xavi would say, his message resonated. He played Barcelona with all five senses, fleeing from the scares of other years, such as Cultural Leonesa, Ibiza, Cornellà, Linares, Intercity & mldr; They were in a hurry to finish the debut in Barbastro, get on the bus back home and think about Thursday’s duel in Saudi Arabia for the Super Cup semifinal against Osasuna.

Badly disallowed goal for João Félix

And Fermín, who takes every minute as if it were his last for Barça, made a great run down the right wing to assist João Félix. It was 0-2. But it was unfairly disallowed because the Portuguese was not offside. And in the Cup there is no VAR. That was the old football. The game without the help of technology.

Barça’s dominance was overwhelming, capable of deactivating Barbastro’s push with Josep Maria Bartomeu, the former Barça president, in the stands. In the first 45 minutes, only 1 shot from the Huesca team, 0 on goal. However, Xavi’s team took up to 15 shots, scoring six on goal, with five stops from Arnau Fàbrega.

Hector Fort attends; Raphinha brand

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The move to the round of 16 was not resolved, as was demonstrated at the beginning of the second half. A bad clearance by Oriol Romeu caused Gonpi’s shot to be saved by Iñaki Peña. First sign of Barça’s tension, although everything calmed down with the second goal scored by Raphinha after a delicate assist from Héctor Fort.

But everything he had built at the beginning collapsed in the final with Barça calling time on the Barbastro field, which pushed him to the limit.