It had to be a defender who has always gone up to attack who put Barça on the brink of the 1-0 League. It had to be a substitute who has always been a starter who came off the bench to give the leader 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 shipment from Frenkie de Jong to beat Aitor Fernández with a shot at the near post. It was minute 85 and the entire Camp Nou was swinging between desire and impatience because their strikers staged another erratic game. That goal full of passion, need and heart exemplifies the Barcelona championship, always with more will than supreme quality football.
But the results account cannot be called into question and Barcelona is heading towards an alirón that has been deserved by force of insistence.
A match of contrasts was presented. With Barça focused on the League and Osasuna, pending the Cup final. And that dichotomy was reflected in the line-ups. While Xavi opted for the same eleven as in the previous game, Arrasate practiced a logical policy of reserve footballers, taking into account that on Saturday his club plays the game of his life against Madrid. Thus, the Navarrese team came out with up to three men from the subsidiary, one of them debuting in the First Division, the center-back Herrando, who would later be expelled.
But it is one thing to play with substitutes and quite another to give away victory without further ado. Because if something has Osasuna is pride, order and intensity. Up to six fouls were committed by the rojillos before twenty minutes against a Barça that entered with rhythm and with clear ideas but which thickened, as so many other times.
Because it is true that with Pedri and De Jong the panorama of the circulation of the ball clears up but it is also true that the decoration is the same when the ball reaches three quarters of the field. There is a lack of beauty in that area, precision and also overflow. Lewandowski is a finisher who must be fed and Raphinha fights and has a remarkable shot but decision-making and neatness are not his strong points.
As proof of the type of party that was taking place, a piece of information. Throughout the first half, Aitor Fernández did not have to make a single stop of merit. Pedri brushed the goal but finished off an excellent service from Balde. Raphinha tested it with an interesting free kick that slightly touched the crossbar on the outside. Araújo headed up from a corner. Hopeful but inconclusive options, and above all, scarce if one takes into account the monopoly of the Barcelona ball. The public, present in good numbers, cheered at least the powerful internships of Balde and the exuberant quality of De Jong.
A filtered pass from the Dutchman in depth was what caused the expulsion of Herrando when it had not reached half an hour. The center-back knocked down Pedri when he was going towards the goal. Contrary to Saturday against Betis, Barcelona’s numerical superiority did not change the fur of the match in the short term. Osasuna, used to suffering, entrenched themselves even more and Barça continued to pass Cain’s to try to find a loophole, with Lewandowski deactivated and already with Ansu Fati on the table. He had entered for Gavi, injured in the right abductor from the start of the match after an action with Ibáñez.
The party was crying out for the participation of the recovered Dembélé and the Frenchman did not take long to appear. Barça began to despair a sector of the respectable, although De Jong was close to hole. With everything in his favor, he crashed his shot against the goalkeeper, who finally had a job. It was a very frank occasion, like another one from Dembélé himself, who sent her out.
Pedri raised the level and the goal that had to leave the League ready began to be chewed. But Osasuna, despite continuing with the rotations through his changes, was even able to test Ter Stegen. The German had to disrupt a cacao from Iker Muñoz. In the other area Aitor Fernández covered an attempt by Lewandowski. At least the game was agitated and the stands shouted “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 on the verge of scoring on the rebound in a joke play. Ferran Torres himself invalidated a converted goal from Lewandowski by being offside in the previous uncheck.
There was no way to hit the target until the intrepid Jordi Alba shouted a goal with his soul and made the Camp Nou explode with euphoria.
