A great goal from a substitute who had not scored in a year frustrated the victory that Barça so needed and so deserved. An Opta statistic reported that Barça is the team in Europe’s five main leagues that has missed the most opportunities both in the first half (23) and in complete games. Hugo Guillamon scored the goal of his life and João Félix was the only Barça player who got it right. He needed to be on the goal line and completely alone to not miss.
An Opta statistic reported that Barça is the team in Europe’s five main leagues that has missed the most opportunities.
night of sacred cows
Xavi said on the eve of Alavés that it was “his moment, the moment of the Barça coach.” The team came from two defeats in three games (Madrid and Shakhtar). It was Xavi’s moment at Mestalla after Barça lost to Girona and Antwerp. But the coach devised a lineup so that it would also be the players’ moment of shared responsibility.
Barça appeared with the eleven of the sacred cows due to the urgent need for points that plagues the team, without taking into account rotations or heck, despite the fact that the year closes on Wednesday in Montjuïc against Almería. Xavi painted the most starting lineup possible with each player in the most appropriate position and the only and debatable exception was Christensen. Cancelo played right back, the role he was hired for, and Balde defended the left, and Araujo and Koundé (who have been placed on the wing) in the center. With Raphinha and João Félix on the wingers and the three undisputed midfielders. The young people had to watch and learn, that the time will come to take the chestnuts out of the fire.
Güngodan played ahead of De Jong and Pedri, in a triangle-shaped device to take advantage of the German’s better arrival.
Gündogan’s arrivals
Was the moment of the players, but the coach left his intervention with a tactical innovation. The square in the center of the field – the two midfielders and the two inside forwards – had been transformed into an inverted triangle. In defense, that 4-3-3 transformed into a 4-2-3-1, with the wingers more sensitive to defending.
The geometric change was accompanied by changes in functions. The furthest behind were Frenkie de Jong and Pedri accompanying him to grease the ball output, one of the team’s recent problems: in that area there were four Barça players against the two white forwards and they could progress to make a three against two against the rival midfielders.
Gündogan was the vertex of that triangle ahead of his teammates. The advantage in construction was very clear. The added benefit is Gündogan’s better finishing ability compared to his teammates.
Barça finished fourteen times, ten well directed, and only João Félix got it right and because he was on the goal line.
Finish off without marking
Gündogan appeared in the area and, therefore, was closer to Lewandowski. Five shots by the Polish forward are explained by the proximity of the player who understands him the most (they played together at Borussia Dortmund before their paths divided) and by the striker’s willingness to show himself so that his teammates could see him. Barça spent little time elaborating after recovering the leather. Against his nature, he opted for verticality.
Lewandowski shoots more, but still doesn’t score goals. He accumulated five chances in the first half, and none of them took advantage. The team is burdened by the decline of its emblem (13 goals it had in the last League, 8 in the current one), but no one repairs the crack. Ferran and Joao Felix are the next scorers with 3.
Barça finished fourteen times, ten on goal, and did not score even from shots. A fairground shotgun is now the champion, it was the king of effectiveness. The virtue that crowned him.
The team has not put an end to the bad habit of giving up a chance at the start: Yaremchuk finished before the second minute.
The first minute is enough
Starting the game badly is becoming a habit. Inadvisable and dangerous habit for which there is no remedy. It can be described as an esoteric mystery if it were not for the fact that it is a phenomenon operated by humans and visible to the eyes of any living being.
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It was repeated in Mestalla, as could be expected, just like the forward kick at kick-off, a more recent fashion. Before the minute and a half had passed, Yaremchuk received a ball in the area, turned around and shot at the goal. A stretch by Iñaki Peña prevented Valencia from taking the lead on the scoreboard. As Antwerp did on Wednesday, with a poor transfer of the goal to Oriol Romeu, who gave it to Vermeer. In the same week.
But it was raining. Bryan Zaragoza scored for Granada at 18 seconds and Samu did it days later for Alavés in Montjuïc at 17 seconds. Between both matches, Barrenetxea enjoyed Real Sociedad’s first chance at 27 seconds. Peña’s handball was the goalkeeper’s moment.