Look at those gone eyes. Blank and out of orbit. Because it is in the lack of control of madness where fears die and uncertainty mutates into certainty.. In those polygonal and quixotic eyes of Cancelo, who did not stop until he burst, a Barça that finally rose in Europe was reflected, even if it was amidst the convulsions of the Portuguese.
The Blaugrana had been swept away from the continent in the last two years. So come back against Porto thanks to the talent of Cancelo and the recovered success of João Félix, qualify for the round of 16 and secure first place – has a seven-goal margin against Shakhtar – the club tastes like glory. But above all to Xavi Hernández, who was warned about being fed up by his foremen.
Xavi was known to be observed by those who live in the box and are suspicious of the working methods of the locker room. So the coach did what the bosses expected of him, lining up his best players – with the sole exception of Iñaki Peña, once again a substitute for the injured Ter Stegen – and who, by status and contract, they should be there. An eleven, in short, irreproachable both for propaganda and for sporting needs.
The most striking variation had to do, of course, with Cancelo. In the presence of Araujo –right back–, Koundé and Iñigo Martínez in the rearguard, andThe Portuguese was moved to the left to the detriment of a deteriorating Bucket. The movement has signs of becoming common. Also the ownership of Raphinha, the former mentor of Deco, who took the position of a Lamine Yamal who smiles less and less. Maybe because the green smiles in the dressing rooms where the rules of the veterans govern are not always welcome.
It’s not that Barcelona won the game, because they didn’t. But, at least, he realized that with effort and talent perhaps he could survive. But before the night opened wide, Barça sweated blood to overcome the first line of pressure. The starting point was the trembling foot of Koundéunconvincing every time rivals came at him and with no way of finding De Jong, Gündogan or Pedri to get out with a minimum of cleanliness.
Porto interpreted Koundé’s problem well, so it didn’t take long for them to start trouble in front of the Barça area. And the chances began to fall without remedy. Taremi had a goal disallowed for offside. Iñaki Peña had to take his first big hand in the match against Galeno. It didn’t take him long to prevent another goal from the Brazilian midfielder, although the goalkeeper had the bad luck that the rebound, this time, fell short. Pepê, more alive than De Jong, only had to focus on the net.
But when the Montjuïc fans began to rehearse how to position their fingers to whistle for their team, and with Xavi Hernández clapping his hands on the tablao as if that were more a moral problem than a football one, Barça had a Marian apparition on the shore of Cancelo. The Portuguese winger is an indecipherable and anarchic guy, but he has so much class that there is no choice but to trust him. Alone, out of nowhere, after minutes of indifference, and after dancing around two defenders as if he were moving the shells of the shell in front of them, he achieved what his teammates did not know how to do in company. He gained adequate space to arm his right leg and took the tie with the fury and conviction of someone who believes he is better than the rest.
Equalizing the game two minutes after Porto’s opening goal gave confidence to the Barça players, who tried to take advantage of the moment by attacking. For João Félix, however, everything was going up. As if he was trying to search the sky for the answers. He shot into the clouds after Raphinha served him a ball to the penalty spot. And he started the second half by hitting the ball against the crossbar.
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But João Félix was willing to get away from that aroma of intermittent bunk beds. And he demonstrated it by taking advantage of Cancelo’s football delirium, with whom he teamed up to finish, this time, where he had to and settle the match. Porto, ghostly, no longer appeared.
Barça returned to that time when qualifying for Europe was routine, not torment. It’s already something.