Xavi finally recovers the best Barça version by thrashing Atlético in the game, although the team ended up defending the result in the last 20 minutes after the expulsion of Alves, the protagonist of the game
Had passed 50 days from the last appearance of Barça at the Camp Nou and two weeks since their last league game, and it seemed like a century had passed. The Barça that reappeared yesterday was not the same that beat Elche in the 85th minute crying nor the one that beat Alavés dying in 87.
At first half already won 3-1 against Atlético and when the second act appeared, he scored the fourth goal. The scoreboard certified a metamorphosis that was not less surprising due to the well-known local goalscoring shortages and the proverbial rojiblanca defensive reliability.
The goals did not say it all. They spoke of the excellent rate of success in the auction, and rewarded the excellent performance of the Barça promised by Xavi with a fast and vibrant game, passes with sense and studied movements. The chants, the ovations, the chanted names and the cry of “independence” from the 17th minute returned.
Back to the past
Alves scored a goal and took part in two, and left with a standing ovation, although expelled, like Luis Suárez, who scored one
Like the ones before Simeone
A return to the past of the best Barça symbolized in Dani Alves, who scored a goal, gave the pass to Alba’s great goal and intervened in Araujo’s. Marco a forward also, that is not said: Gavi. Like the old Barça-Atlético, full of goals. Before the arrival of Diego Simeon, who challenged Xavi and left shorn, without winning either on his fifteenth visit to the Camp Nou and giving up the coveted fourth place in the Champions League classification.
Style thrashed pragmatism in a volcanic duel, played to the limit due to the situation of the teams and without completely losing the tics that have manifested this campaign. Barça was shaken at 4-2, which was accentuated by the expulsion of Alves, when he had already lost control of the ball and the game, and Atlético continued to fight as their coach demands even though they had three goals against .
Worst goalkeepers and defenders
Barça was shaken at 4-2, although they had already lost control.
Luis Suárez put fear into the body of the stands, who applauded him on his return. He also saw the Barça that he knew from long ago. The new Barça born from the winter market was very similar to the one from the past, as never before this season, and was received with the enthusiasm of the lost memory of recent weeks.
That Barcelona is easily marked, at first, was already something known; that it was so easy to beat Oblak, the last great dominator of Zamora, was a novelty. It does not only concern the form of the two goalkeepers, decreasing, but also the defensive organization of each team, which was soon confirmed. On both sides.
Adama returned seven years later, more muscular and just as fast, and recovered the figure of the winger that overflows
late in duels
The Barça players arrived late to each duel with the rojiblancos, who moved the ball at the first touch –another certification: the ball always travels faster than humans– and the people from Madrid crowded into the area looking at the leather, leaving unattended Jordi Alba who, on the other hand, surprised the entire planet with an anthological volley.
As surprising as the fact that Gavi, the smallest player in the field, headed a cross from Adama, the return of what is understood as a winger: a guy who receives on the wing, summons the side, or dribbles and centers into the area. A Pleistocene species modernized by a muscular carcass that doesn’t hamper its speed and instead allows it to withstand all loads.
reappeared a Physically unknown Adama and a recognizable Alves reappeared, hyperactive, who feels called to be more than a side. He got inside the construction, attacked like a striker and his leads melted in an expulsion that complicated life for the team, returning him to agony. Atlético pressed in the duels and surrounded Barça in their field, like a big team, but without finishing off.
MATCH SHEET
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (6); Alves (8), Araujo (5), Piqué (6), Alba (8); Pedro (7); Busquets (6), F. de Jong (6); Adama (7), Ferran (6), Gavi (8).
Technical: Xavi Hernandez (7).
Changes: Aubameyang (5) by Adama (d. 61); Nico (6) by Pedri (m. 65); Dest (5) by Gavi (d. 70).
Athletic: Oblak (3); Vrsaljko (3), Savic (4), Giménez (5), Hermoso (4); Carrasco (7), De Paul (6), Koke (6), Lemar (7); Luis Suarez (7), Joao Felix (6).
Technical: Diego Simeon (7).
Changes: Wass (6) by Vrsaljko (d. 46); Reinildo (5) by Hermoso (m. 55); Cunha (4) by Lemar (m. 55); Correa (6) by Joao Félix (m. 55); Herrera (sc) by Koke (m. 75).
goals: 0-1 (m. 8), Carrasco anticipates Araujo and scores crossed; 1-1 (m. 10), Alba connects with a volley with his left foot; 2-1 (m. 21), Gavi heads a center from Adama. 3-1 (m. 42), Araujo picks up a rebound from the crossbar after a mistake by Ferran. 4-1 (m. 48), Alves connects a loose ball in the area. 4-2 (m. 58), Luis Suárez heads in a second play from a corner.
Referee: Gil Manzano (4), Extremadura.
Cards: Alba (m. 51), F. de Jong (m. 72), Xavi (m. 82), Wass (m. 89), Herrera (m. 90).
red cards: Alves (d. 68), Òscar Hernández (d. 79).
Stadium: CampNou.
spectators: 74,221.
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Reference-www.elperiodico.com