With the right, Jordi Alba launched a closed center sensing that Ferran was sneaking in. Only the last Barça signing was left against Pacheco, but he saw Frankie more focused, also only because he returned late from another frustrated move, and he gave him the ball to score in an empty goal.
Like this it avoided the Barça the shame of a tie in Vitoria against an Alavés chained to the relegation zone, appearing with two defeats in tow and two titles lost in one week. But that priceless loot was about to be lost in added time again. He gave the last corner to Alavés, the first for the Blue and Whites. And yet they finished it off.. Edgar managed a square meter to head alone in the area, full of people. Ter Stegen stopped him and the referee ended the agony of Barça, a team with little football and little trade and that begins to cling to the results as the only alibi in the speech.
Alavés ceded the initiative to a Barça that is not scared by the little football it has.
No danger in the attack
Against a rival that they thought was similar to Athletic, Barça showed different nuances to raise their performance. Insufficient to generate some optimism, let alone enthusiasm. The team enjoyed less pressure than that exerted by the lions and that gave them control of the game.
Having the ball reassured Barça, but it did not sharpen its fang in attack. It is not a problem to cede possession to this unreliable team, so blunt in the offensive game, absolutely flat, and Alavés, assuming their inferiority, put everything on a counterattack (which had it in the boots of Pere Pons and in the Joselu’s head) or a set piece. Which also had them. Like the corner.
Xavi asked for more daring after the break and the insistence reported the victory.
Xavi has kicked out and arms of Luuk de Jong, eliminating all the reluctance he felt and for which he blessed the injury of the lanky nine to Cádiz. With three goals scored in the last three games (Mallorca, Granada and Real Madrid), he immediately returned him to the field once the Copa sanction had been completed. Luuk plays because Memphis and Ansu are injured and Dembélé is out. Dest also returned, punished from Munich, so that the veteran Alves (38 years old) rested after chaining three games.
Starting with a nine of reference invites you to accompany him with two extremes. The same ones from Bilbao, Ferran and Abde, did play wide open yesterday, glued to the touchline. Pedri and Frenkie de Jong (the substitute for the suspended Gavi) had more space to build in the interior area.
The first half ended with Pere Pons shooting against Ter Stegen.
misguided
But they elaborated little, obsessed with looking far to deepen with the three forwards who sought one-on-one with their peers, which is one of Xavi’s most insistent instructions. In the few actions of Barça advantage, the decision making failed. Before hitting, Ferran was wrong twice: once by not giving a ball to Frenkie in a quick advance and another in a loss at the feet of Pere Pons who finished the Catalan interior standing alone against Ter Stegen before the curtain fell on the first act.
Ferran failed before hitting the crucial moment, which does not alleviate the restlessness of the Catalans. A signing is expected to take the chestnuts out of the fire, and urgently in the agonizing situation of Barça, and the Valencian has not raised the tone of the team, with which the lack of unpredictable footballers persists who imagine something that is apart from what conventional. The capacity for surprise is nil in a group gripped by insecurity.
Xavi asked for more daring after the break and the insistence reported the victory.
Audacity called the coach again at the break, and with the risk the errors increased, but the rhythm of the game had to be increased one more step. Even if it was to shake off the cold. He changed the face of the team by changing the way they attack. The gangs, especially the right, held by Abde after his initial location on the left were searched more. That was the unpredictable factor that strengthened Barça in the face of the general sluggishness. The departures of the Moroccan stretched the team. Until he was replaced.
An arreón from Alavés changed the fate of the match, as if the local eleven had chased away their fears by seeing the only rival they feared disappear with their escapes. Barça changed the system, Xavi desperate when he saw that nothing had an effect. Just the insistence.
match sheet
Alaves: Pacheco (7); Martín (6), Laguardia (5), Lejeune (7), Javi López (4); Escalante (6), Pina (4); Jason (6), Pere Pons (6), Rioja (6); Joselu (6).
Technical: Jose Luis Mendilibar (6).
Changes: De la Fuente (5) by Pons (d. 71); Edgar (sc) by Rioja (d. 90).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (7); Deste (5), Pique (6), Araujo (5), Alba (6); Pedri (7), Busquets (6), F. de Jong (7); Fernando (6), L. de Jong (5), Abde (6).
Technical: Xavi Hernandez (6).
Changes: Nico (5) by Abde (d. 71); Juzglà (sc) by L. de Jong (d. 85); Lenglet (sc) by Pedri (d. 90).
goals: 0-1 (m. 87), F. de Jong scores on an empty goal after a loan from Ferran.
Referee: Figueroa Vázquez (4), Andalusian.
cards: Laguardia (d. 91).
Related news
red cards: Mendilíbar (d. 91).
Stadium: mendizorroza
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.