The Camp Nou no longer intimidates in Europe

The Camp Nou is no longer scary, at least in Europe. Barça could not get past the goalless draw on Thursday against Galatasaray and extended the poor run of results they have at home in continental competitions. The team led by Ronald Koeman and now Xavi Hernández has only managed to win one of the last seven games they have played at home, an inappropriate trajectory for a fiefdom that for years had become a true fortress and a guarantee for the Catalans in the playoffs.

There was a time when the Camp Nou was overwhelming. From the hand of Xavi, Messi, Iniesta and company an atmosphere was created in which the Camp Nou was impregnable. The rivals passed by and even in the qualifying rounds the weight of the culé stadium weighed on the teams that visited it. Even Liverpool, Rome, Juventus or PSG, teams that eliminated Barça, fell in the duel played in Barcelona. Today there is no trace of that impregnable Barça stadium.

And it is that before Galatasaray it was possible to see once again how the teams that today visit the Camp Nou no longer have their legs trembling. The group led by Doménec Torrent, twelfth in the Turkish league, fearlessly came out to play the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 against Barcelona, ​​implanted a model in which Pedri, Frenkie de Jong and company were locked up and even dared to play from behind to circumvent the advanced pressure devised by Xavi. No trace of the kick. Barça is played with their own weapons. “We try to minimize the offensive strengths of the opponent. If you are going to hit yourself and with your chest open, you lose, “said the Galatasaray coach.

Torrent’s plan went perfectly. Barça crashed again and again against an organized team and showed that nowadays they no longer play downhill when someone visits their stadium in Europe. This tie makes the bump in results that the culé team is going through at home even bigger. Of the last seven games that Barça has played in front of their fans between the Champions League and the Europa League, they have only managed to win one, and it was by the minimum against Dinamo Kiev. That day a soothing victory was achieved to start thinking about going to the round of 16 of the Champions League, but the sensations were similar to those you have when something is not going quite right.

That win against Dynamo Kiev was an oasis in a very painful streak for the Blaugrana. Before that game, Juventus (0-3), Paris Saint-Germain (1-4) and Bayern Munich (0-3) had put in context that something was changing and that the film that was going to have to getting used to the Camp Nou was going to be less beautiful for their interests than those of yesteryear. Barça has gotten up from that crisis, but, with Xavi on the bench, they have not managed to get past the draw against three rivals against whom they are theoretically superior, such as Benfica (0-0), Napoli (1-1) and Galatasaray (0-0). Meanwhile, the Camp Nou is still waiting to see if the great European nights return.

IñakiPeña presents credentials

Much of the blame for Barça’s puncture on Thursday in the Europa League lies with a kid who, until just three months ago, was under Xavi’s orders. Iñaki Peña returned home and did so to show his candidacy as an alternative to Ter Stegen for the next season. The goalkeeper, barely 23 years old, made two masterful interventions against Memphis Depay and one more against Sergio Busquets in a corner kick.

His stops gave Galatasaray air and served to present himself in society before what, who knows, may be his home again in a short time. “The idea is that he would go on loan to return to Barcelona and be part of the squad. He is brave to go and show that it is not easy. He has made our night bitter. I’m happy for him”, acknowledged Xavi when asked about Iñaki Peña’s performance.