It had to be a defender who has always stepped up to the attack that left Barça within touching distance of the League 1-0. It had to be a substitute who had always been a starter who came off the bench to give the leaders another narrow victory against an Osasuna full of rotations and with ten players for more than an hour. It had to be Jordi Alba who took advantage of a pass from Frenkie de Jong to beat Aitor Fernández with a shot at the far post. It was the 85th minute and the whole Camp Nou was teetering between desire and impatience, because their forwards played another erratic game.
This goal full of passion, need and heart exemplifies the Barcelona championship, always with more will than supreme quality football. Barcelona has won eleven games by 1-0. But the results cannot be questioned and the leader is on his way to a title that he has earned through persistence.
A match of contrasts was presented. With Barça dumped in the League and Osasuna waiting for the Cup final. And this dichotomy was reflected in the lineups. While Xavi opted for the same eleven as in the previous match, Arrasate practiced a political logic of reserve footballers, bearing in mind that on Saturday his club plays the match of his life against Madrid. Thus, the Navarrese team left with up to three men from the subsidiary, one of them debuting in Primera, central Herrando, who would later be expelled.
But it’s one thing to play with substitutes and quite another to simply give away victory. Because if Osasuna has anything, it’s intensity. Up to six fouls were committed by the Navarrese before the twentieth minute against a Barça team that entered with rhythm and clear ideas, but which gradually thickened.
Because it is true that with Pedri and De Jong the panorama of ball circulation is clarified, but it is also true that the setting is the same when the ball reaches three quarters of the field. There is a lack of delicacy in that area, precision and also overflow. Lewandowski is a finisher who needs feeding and Raphinha struggles and has a remarkable shot but decision-making and neatness are not his strengths.
As proof of the type of match that was taking place, a fact. In the entire first half, Aitor Fernández did not have to make a single save of merit. Pedri edged the goal but finished off an excellent service from Balde. Raphinha tried it with an interesting free-kick that hit the crossbar just wide. Araújo headed too high at the exit of a corner. Hopeful but inconclusive options, and especially scarce if you take into account Barcelona’s monopoly on the ball. The crowd, present in good numbers, cheered at least Balde’s powerful internings and De Jong’s exuberant quality.
A filtered pass from the Dutchman in depth was what caused the expulsion of Herrando before the half-hour mark. The center made Pedri fall when he was going towards the goal. Unlike on Saturday against Betis, Barcelona’s numerical superiority did not change the type of match in the short term. Osasuna, used to suffering, entrenched themselves even more and Barça continued to work hard to try to find a gap, with Lewandowski deactivated and already with an exasperated Ansu Fati on the turf. He had entered for Gavi, touched in the right abductor from the start of the match.
The party was clamoring for the recovered Dembélé to participate and the Frenchman did not take long to appear. Barça was starting to make a sector of the public despair, but De Jong was close to scoring. With everything in his favour, he crashed the shot against the goalkeeper, who finally had a job. It was a very frank occasion, like another one from Dembélé himself, who sent her away.
Pedri was raising his level and the goal that had to leave the League ready was beginning to be seen coming. But Osasuna, despite continuing to rotate through their changes, were even able to test Ter Stegen. The German had to destroy a shot from Iker Muñoz. In the other area, Aitor Fernández covered an attempt by Lewandowski. At least the match was moving and the stands were shouting “Barça, Barça”. The siege was already extreme with a storm of centers, always with more confusion than clairvoyance. Xavi moved a piece and turned to Jordi Alba and Ferran Torres, who was a hair’s breadth from scoring a counterattack in a joke play. Ferran Torres himself invalidated a converted goal by Lewandowski because he was offside in the previous clearance.
There was no way to score until the intrepid Jordi Alba screamed goal with his soul and made the Camp Nou explode with euphoria.
