Barça commits hara-kiri in Balaídos

Barça let the victory slip away in Balaídos. The team led by Hansi Flick tied 2-2 in a match that they had under control with ten minutes remaining, but which went wrong after Marc Casadó was sent off for a double yellow. The goals of Raphinha and Lewandowski were neutralized by those of Alfon and Hugo Álvarez in the final stretch and left the fight for the leadership of the League more open than ever.

A puzzle. That’s what Barça’s lineup against Celta became. The loss of Lamine Yamal forced Flick to look for solutions and carry out a domino effect in which Raphinha ended up on the right, Olmo on the left, Pedri in the double pivot and Gavi, the big surprise, as a playmaker. The goal of the hodgepodge was for the player from Los Palacios, starter 370 days later, to maintain the pressure in the opposite field and short-circuit the exit from behind for a Celta team that this season does not give the ball away under any circumstances.

The result at the beginning, however, was different. Balaídos generated the atmosphere and Giráldez’s men responded with a stormy exit that could have cost Barcelona dearly. Aspas forgave an opportunity against Iñaki Peña and that served to wake up Flick’s team, which found pause in Casadó’s feet and vertigo in Raphinha’s speed. The Brazilian is dynamite, he is still sweet and he only needed a long ball from Koundé to show that this year he does not understand positions. He cut Mingueza and easily defined the long post, impossible for Guaita.

It was the only goal in a first half in which Barça did not manage to have total control of the game. The culés wanted to calm the match after the goal with the presence of Pedri and Gavi between the lines, but every inaccuracy was responded to by Celta with dizzying attacks that made Flick jump from his seat like a spring. The German saw from the sideline how Olmo was diluted on the left profile and how his team suffered against a rival who could have tied before the break if Aspas had been more successful or if Ilaix Moriba had not run into Iñaki Peña after a missile from thirty meters. Celta did not succeed and went to the locker room frustrated with the score and with Soto Grado, who forgave Gerard Martín’s second yellow card after a challenge on Aspas.

After the restart, Barça continued looking for sensations. Flick removed Gerard Martín to bring on Héctor Fort, but the game was still on a ledge where anything could happen and where Celta’s threat was growing due to the possibility of the duel breaking down. In that heads or tails, Barça always comes out heads this year. Raphinha appeared again, this time to steal a ball in the opposite field and set up Lewandowski, who reluctantly took the ball from his counterpart and beat Guaita low to score his fifteenth goal in this League.

light blue firecracker

The goal, now, served to cool down the game, although Barcelona was also going to do it. The culés turned to the ball, wore down a rival who had been fighting each dispute for more than an hour as if it were the last of the match, and relaxed. In the middle of that calm, Flick introduced Fermín and Frenkie de Jong and removed Pedri and Gavi, who played 75 minutes at a good pace.

It was the beginning of the end. Marc Casadó saw the second yellow after an unnecessary grab and the Catalans collapsed. Koundé gave the goal to Alfon after a bad back pass and immediately afterwards, without time to digest the blow, Hugo Álvarez entered the area, cut back Héctor Fort and beat Iñaki Peña low to turn Balaídos upside down and leave shock to a Barça that had the game in their hands and yet is already within striking distance of Real Madrid.