It was in the old Olympic Stadium of Montjuïc, built in 1927, where the youth of FC Barcelona knocked on the door. Without Dembélé, on the way to Paris, Xavi’s men found his best weapon in the talent of the very young Lamine Yamal. At 16, the youth squad player was vital in the three goals that Ferran Torres, Abde and Ansu Fati scored to come back from a Gamper against Tottenham that had become very complicated.
Skipp had turned the scene around with a double after a first goal from Lewandowski in a somewhat soulless Olympic Stadium with 35,224 spectators out of the 49,472 available seats. Last year there were 83,021 at the Camp Nou against the Mexican Pumas. Xavi Hernández did well to remind him in his parliament that the team needs to have his fans close. For the next time it will be on August 20 against Cádiz.
The technician will have work to decide from now on his eleven gala. The one he took out was somewhat blurred after the irruption of the young people. He reserved Gündogan for the second part and Christensen did not play, still with muscular discomfort. Neither is Iñigo Martínez, who is still immersed in the recovery from his plantar fasciitis.
Eric Garcia and Koundé played in the place of both center backs, who alternated their position with Araújo on the right side and Balde on the left. He also brought back Gavi to the cause, who was largely absent from the American tour due to a back ailment. The youth squad player, who was widely applauded by the fans, was the fourth midfielder along with Pedri. He accused the lack of minutes. Quite the opposite of Oriol Romeu.
Busquets’ substitute took his debut at Montjuïc very seriously. He showed continuous football, parading down the right wing with De Jong well placed on the left wing of Xavi’s famous square. It was precisely Romeu who left the axis of the field to visualize Raphinha. The Brazilian, well placed on the far right of the attack that Dembélé leaves, dodged Davison to assist Lewandowski who scored Barcelona’s first goal with his left foot on the magic mountain after two minutes of play. Then the invention fell apart.
Barcelona barely enjoyed two isolated offensive plays. The first was carried out by a hasty Raphinha who saw the goal before scoring it. He ignored the presence of Lewandowski who was alone and finished high with his left foot. The second was from Lewandowski. Vicario struggled to clear his centered shot. Then all the prominence moved to Ter Stegen’s goal. Pedri’s discreet game was noted, as he barely intervened in the game, and Xavi alerted Gavi to keep a close eye on Oliver Skipp. It was precisely the Tottenham midfielder, who dynamited the game with a brace. Both goals came from Barcelona’s right wing, confirming one of Xavi’s demands: a natural right-handed side is needed because he does not trust Dest and Araújo, Koundé and Sergi Roberto are not. To score the first English goal, Perisic dodged a clueless Araújo and looked for Reguilón. The former Real Madrid player connected with Lo Celso, wanted by Xavi. The Argentine sent the ball to the post. But there was Skipp to finish the job. Ten minutes later he headed in another Perisic cross to make it 1-2. Along the way, Araújo left injured.
After the break, Barcelona came out wanting to come back. Lewandowski and Pedri tested it and Tottenham responded with a chance from Richarlison who left Eric Garcia sitting out and another from Pedro Porro who ran into Ter Stegen. Xavi decided to make changes And he couldn’t have made a better decision. He varied the entire attack, placing Iñaki Peña under the goalposts, Marcos Alonso on the left-back and Gündogan took over from Gavi. But above all it was Lamine Yamal who made the difference. The 16-year-old boy caught a ball from Koundé and with four exquisite touches assisted Ferran Torres who scored 2-2. He didn’t have enough. He made Reguilón dizzy to connect with Ansu Fati, author of the third goal. Xavi then called Fermín. The other letter from him. He danced with Lamine Yamal and assisted another young man. To Ez Abde, scorer of the fourth goal. Without a doubt, this Barça is for young people.
