FC Barcelona plays a lot of things in a single game, a sign that it is not doing well either as a team or as an institution. Eliminated from the Cup, beaten in the Super Cup and third in the League, too far behind Real Madrid, the season has not gone as imagined and the Champions League has taken the form of a life-saving float, a tool that does not allow us to think about traveling great distances but does. in gaining time as a means of survival. Football, generous as it is, always gives second and third chances. Even this Barça, with its flaws, has earned tonight’s victory hard.
Xavi’s players, a group of irregular behavior, played a good first leg in Naples, from which they earned a valuable draw (1-1). Today they will have to undo it supported by a Montjuïc stadium mutated into a home occupied by a fan that is more festive than passionate, with an eleven without three starting midfielders (Gavi, De Jong and Pedri) and led by two amazing but underage footballers: Cubarsí and Lamine Yamal.
(La Masia insists on giving lessons that the technical secretaries then ignore, acquiring footballers at exorbitant prices that do not make the announced differences).
This is not the best night to dwell on misfortunes or engage in debates. The club is risking prestige and a necessary economic relief. If they advance to the quarter-finals they will earn 10.5 million euros for moving up a step on the European scene and around 11 million more with the proceeds from the home match in the next round. Obviously, if he is eliminated he will stop collecting those two bags of money, which would be another blow to finances in a critical situation, one would say chronically.
In terms of football, Barça has long since stopped being the favorite to win the top continental competition, but passing the round will invigorate an atmosphere that is prone to catastrophism due to the accumulated blows in the Champions League in recent seasons. Getting into the quarterfinals will bring back old and pleasant sensations, such as feeling like you’re back in the group’s favorites next Friday in the draw.
Xavi’s team will not have an easy time, first because there has not been much play or arguments this season, and second because his best midfielders continue to recover in the infirmary with the sole exception of Gündogan. The panorama forces us to temporarily renounce stylistic ornamentation and surrender to results while waiting for the players to return. Winning is more important than ever. Losing is a drama and leads to a probable blank season.
Xavi Hernández, who announced his departure next summer in a move that has not gone badly for the team, has a clear alignment in the defensive zone. Ter Stegen will play in goal, Koundé will play at right back to close, Cancelo will play on the left to improvise, and in the axis Araújo will act as a corrector and Cubarsí will play on the right to start the game cleanly. The youth player, at 17 years old, has earned the position with a ease and solidity inappropriate for his age. In a matter of a month, no one would think of putting him on the bench. Everything that happens to this Barça is extraordinary for the good and the bad.
With Christensen established as a midfielder (the Dane is becoming less and less annoying with the ball and without the ball he is a barrier for rivals who previously passed through that area as if there was no one), Gündogan and Fermín will be in the center of the field and Lamine will be ahead in attack Yamal and Lewandowski, supposedly rested after not playing against Mallorca. The only place to be awarded goes to João Félix and Raphinha, two disappointing players. The first is because he has a level and does not take advantage of it, suffering from major attacks that take away his energy and grace. The second is because, having too much will, it is suspected that his quality does not reach him.
