With the third defeat in four games dismissed the champion of the League that has cost them so much to win. When he gave it his all, he got the necessary results that crowned him with unimaginable anticipation. To which he relaxed, understandably but not justifiably, he saw what his fate would have been if he hadn’t used himself to the best of his abilities.
He fell in Balaídos against a Celta who was risking his life, in the same way that he fell in Valladolid, with an additional bit of dignity and with a better result. The Barça that had played for the title would have passed over a team that was in free fall and that was saved by the soft mat that the generous champion laid out.
Celta was saved by the need to survive and the pride of a youth player personified in Gabri Veiga (21 years old), the great revelation of the Galician club, author of the two goals, one by Ter Stegen, from whom he snatched the desire to break the world record for clean sheets (he remains at Paco Liaño’s 26) and the lowest average number of goals conceded. The other, a churro, was endorsed by Iñaki Peña, who started again in the final stretch.
Veiga ended up crying on the bench, but not from grief, but from tension and exhaustion, which forced him to be removed from the field. Ansu Fati’s goal came too late for Barça to close the League as God intended; It only served for Celta to use all the tricks to avoid five consecutive passes in the last minutes.
Barça only opposed pride and a few occasions in the first half, when the rival trembled like a flan. Kessie scored a goal that was disallowed and he came two more times to the area to intimidate, and Lewandowski fired a long shot that licked the post. The team worked in front, but not behind, where it held its greatest strength, which disappeared after the alirón: seven goals in four games, nine if you count the two conceded after the 0-4 against Espanyol.
Gavi enters and Eric steps back
Gavi entered the break to give the team a bit of grip, soft and tender, as seen in Veiga’s goal, without noticing an iota of tension in the legs of Marcos or Christensen, who are not paragons of aggressiveness.
Gavi came in instead of Christensen and that displaced Eric from the midfielder to the axis of the defense. Eric’s third test worsened the precedents, since it did not last beyond the break. His work had been merely accompanying because De Jong joined him and usurped all his functions, the most important ones, those that concern the construction of the game. The Dutchman did and undid and Eric watched, so he would be more useful in his natural position at center back.
Young people in the field
Nor did Ferran approve, who spoiled another occasion to claim merits to continue in the team. Situated on the left wing, he failed to understand the coach’s demands about when he should go inside and when he should open up to the flank. He did not get along with Marcos and he did not get past Mingueza, who played on the wing and was one of the novelties of Celta’s revolutionary lineup, with youngsters on the pitch (Veiga, Domínguez, Óscar…) and veterans (Aspas, Mallo, Cervi… ) on the bench and on the wing, asking the fans to cheer them up. Having achieved the first goal and especially the second, Celta did not want anything from a game that they approached overstressed by the threat of relegation.
Xavi’s attempt to redirect the repetitive situation of recent weeks was unproductive. Dembele and Ansu Fati they had entered to have some presence in attack, but Veiga’s second goal aborted a simple attempt of ambition that remained in that, with the subsequent entry of Pablo Torre and a disassembled Barça, with De Jong as a center back and Kessié as a midfielder.
Data sheet
Celtic: Villar (5); Mingueza (6), Unai Núñez (6), Domínguez (6), Galán (4); Veiga (9), Beltrán (4), Óscar (6), Carles Pérez (6), Seferovic (6), De la Torre (4). Coach: Carlos Carvalhal (5). Changes: Vázquez (5) for Mingueza (m. 67); Tapia (4) by De la Torre (m. 70); Cervi (4) by Veiga (m. 71); Blades (sc) by Seferovic (d. 78).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (4); Sergi Roberto (6), Koundé (6), Christensen (4), Marcos (5); Kessie (5), Eric (4), De Jong (6); Raphinha (6), Lewandowski (4), Ferran (4). Coach: Xavi Hernandez (4). Changes: Gavi (5) for Christensen (m. 46); Dembélé (6) for Raphinha (m. 62); Ansu Fati (7) for Ferran (m. 62); Peña (4) by Ter Stegen (m. 62); Pablo Torre (5) by Eric (m. 72).
Goals: 1-0 (m. 42), Veiga; 2-0 (m. 65), Veiga; 2-1 (m. 79), Ansu Fati.
Referee: Polished Santana (4), canary.
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cards: Ferran, Raphinha, Cervi.
Stadium: ballads.