The Barcelona that could not in the Europa League with Manchester United, a noble team, was enough to overcome Cádiz in the first half and think about Thursday’s duel in the second. There is no one who coughs or makes the leader in the championship nervous while he does worry about his European future. The blaugrana are increasingly consolidated and are capable of adding 37 of the last 39 points at stake. They did not give even the slightest hope to Madrid, their pursuer, of closing the gap in the League. The margin is as solid as the adequacy of Barça, which allowed itself the luxury of satisfying (almost) everyone.
With the job faced, Xavi was in charge of reserving De Jong and Lewandowski, two of the men through whom the Old Trafford tie passes. And he sought to unblock Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, while rediscovering Sergi Roberto, Raphinha rested and Busquets gained time after his injury. The plans went well, like in Team A.
Without Pedri and with Busquets recently recovered, Xavi decided that it was time to recover the two open ends, something that had not been seen since Ceuta. The blaugrana have chosen to reserve that pattern for matches in which, a priori, they will have a lot of dominance and will be able to settle in the opposite field.
Between the double confrontation with the red devils, the visit of Cádiz seemed ideal to recover a couple of players who the season is passing over, either due to competition or personal performances. Hence, the coach chose Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres to surround Lewandowski, who was also beginning to urge a goal after three blank nights.
In the center of the field, the question was how the loss of Pedri would affect the Barcelona team. Last season, the team fell apart when the canary was injured. However, the response from the midfield was extraordinary, with De Jong as a lone positional pivot and Gavi and Sergi Roberto as insiders. The Andalusian unmasked those who only see his intensity. He wedged himself between the lines and sped up and upgraded all attacks, without losing an iota of his fight.
At the same time, Barcelona rediscovered Sergi Roberto as a midfielder. There were his origins and he is delighted to be able to demonstrate his qualities again. One of the best is how he steps area. And he wore it in all his splendor. He even finished off twice before opening the scoring in another play in which he appeared undetectable in the right place. Shortly after he also assisted in the 2-0. Seeing him with confidence, it is not so unreasonable to insist with the four midfielders in Europe despite the absence of Pedri and Gavi, who was suspended.
The night invited to grow collectively and individually and the defense joined the party. The Christensen thing is no longer surprising, but Eric Garcia also needed minutes at a high level. What nobody expected was what happened in the attack. The Pole seemed destined to reconcile with the goal and made good the predictions on the brink of half-time with a right-footed shot from the edge that caught Ledesma off guard.
But of his companions, the one who shone with his own light was Ferran Torres, who had not started in the League since November 8, before the World Cup. The player was nervous but finally unlocked. For carnival the Valencian dressed up as Garrincha. Brave and daring, playing on the right, the winger unbalanced his marker well and not just because of the 1-0 play. But it is that there he invented three consecutive dribbles inside the area to leave behind Azarmendia, Alcaraz and Fali and cross. Lewandowski headed, Iza served on the line and Sergi Roberto picked up the rebound and finished. More than half of the team went to hug Ferran for his great play, while Barça’s nine made up for himself in the next play, before the break, which allowed the team to dose up.
The result was deceived for the people of Cádiz, the third least successful team in the tournament, who saw Roger Martí’s two goals canceled (well), the first for starting in an advanced position and the second for a foul by Fali in a Ter Stegen outing. Each in one half. But it is that in the final stretch, already with the changes, Chris Ramos and Choco Lozano met the posts, which kept the German’s 17th clean sheet. It was a placid day for the leader, almost perfect. The only thing missing was the success of Ansu Fati, who unsuccessfully searched for the goal, although he too was applauded by the stands. All happy.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Kound, Christensen, Eric Garcia, Balde, Frenkie de Jong (Kessie 69), Sergi Roberto, Gavi, Ferran, Lewandowski (Raphinha 74) and Ansu Fati (Alarcon 85).
Cadiz: Conan, Iza, Luis Hernandez, Fali, Arzamendia, Bongonda (Nephew 62), Ruben Alcaraz (San Emeterio 69), Escalante (Alejo 62), Brian (Lozano 62), Alex and Roger Marti (Chris Ramos 74).
Goles: 1-0, min.43: Sergi Roberto. 2-0, min.45 1: Lewandowski.
Referee: Pablo González Fuertes (Asturian Committee). He admonished Roger (min.24), Alcaraz (min.53), De Jong (min.66), Kessie (min.78), San Emeterio (min.82).
Incidents: match of day 22 of LaLiga Santander played at the Spotify Camp Nou before 72,010 spectators.
