BarcelonaBarça is a crazy house. To get three gold points, Xavi’s team gave up a few years of life from suffering so much in a game that seemed to never end. Things cost so much, the coaches lose their hair and gain wrinkles, and they age quickly on a bench where Xavi sees how in every game he loses a few players due to injury. But it was a rewarding effort, as the victory in the field of Real Sociedad (0-1) leaves Barça second in the standings with one game less and on the way to the Champions League. The sun is finally rising again.
In a few days, Barça goes from drinking wine from the mouth of your loved one on Olympus, surrounded by deities, to burning it in a cauldron in hell. Thus, from euphoria to direct suffering, without any toll. That team that was excited about Xavi is now suffering. It is anguish to see Barça fight against all the elements, when in each wash they lose a sheet. All the plans of the Terrassa coach run counter to the long list of casualties of a tired team, with players who give it their all despite their whole body hurting.
After a few weeks in which all the rivals made the defense their leitmotif, playing in the field of the Royal Society was to look into the eyes of an exciting project, in its tactical proposal. La Reial has long since abandoned the traditional, more physical Basque school to play with footballers who look like violinists, such as David Silva or Rafinha. The stage was ideal to be able to attack, to be able to exploit the virtues of a Barça that finally got rid of the bad feelings of the last days in a first hour of play that made patxoca. Aware that it was a game of paramount importance, against a direct rival that could greatly complicate the fight to be in the Champions League in case of getting all three points, Xavi opted for the gala team. Well, the best team possible thinking that so many top players are missing. And the play went well, with a naughty Dembélé who found many meters to run freely, Gavi winning duels in the middle of the field and Ferran Torres carefully putting the cross that allowed Aubameyang to make it 0-1. A goal as necessary as it was fair, as it was always played towards Remiro’s goal.
But the Royal took the sleep out of his ears. Partly because it’s a good team. Partly because Barça is not only having a long season. Also the matches. Gradually, the high pace benefited the people of San Sebastián, led by Januzaj and his pair of Scandinavian strikers, Isak and Sorloth. Neither of them, fortunately, had a keen eye. And when they managed to kick between the three posts they ran into a savior Ter Stegen.
A second agonizing part
The joy in San Sebastián lasted 30 minutes. Then he had to endure as much as he could, besieged like Texan soldiers in El Alamo or the city of Troy before the Greek armies. It was a matter of enduring, of suffering as it were, accepting for once to lose possession. Losing all the statistics, giving up the style, as there was no way to control the ball against a Royal Society that was punishing again and again a defense that seemed to crack in the middle. All the defenders who came out to play ended up on the ground, half injured. Jordi Alba was able to finish, but Dani Alves, Ronald Araujo and Gerard Piqué were not. With a sore face, Piqué returned to the pitch after an injury and leaked his messages with the president of the Federation, Luis Rubiales. Messages that will become a cross that the Barcelona center-back will have to carry in all away matches, as rival fans will remind him of his business every time. It was a rough match, at times unpleasant, with throwing objects by the most radical fans of a Real Sociedad that gradually lost faith, seeing how the Barça defense, lame and tired, managed to protect the Aubameyang’s goal in the first half.
In fact, Ferran Torres approached Remiro’s goal as the game broke down, trying to find a second goal that would have been balsamic to allow a team that was clear, between the eyebrows, to prevail. in the field of the Royal Society was to take a giant step towards the next edition of the Champions League. One of the toughest rivals, one of the most complicated trips of a calendar that is slowly approaching the end of a season that can be summed up in the victory at the Reale Arena, suffering but also enjoying. At times Barça’s game prevailed and at others it was up to them to defend Aubameyang’s goal with their teeth and nails. With injuries and the ability to think coldly when they painted rough, managing to take the game, little by little, to a stage that benefited a Barça that after its tragic week is reunited with a victory that was needed.
