A football game can be won in many ways, by touch or by gallop, but when victories are accumulated at large, the key usually revolves around a single word: desire. Desire to win Desire to reduce the rival. Desire to surpass him by land, sea and air. Desire to overtake him in every meter, in every corner. Desire to not give up on the effort until the goal is achieved. Xavi’s Barça has settled in the law of desire, which has nothing to do with the already classic film by Pedro Almodóvar, except that the filmmaker amassed a good flow of successes and the football director of the Barcelona team is on the path to achieve them.
It’s when you see Gavi eat the grass. When he observes Kessié embedded in the gear naturally. When she checks that De Jong gravitates around her axis, she levitates, drives and orders. When he contemplates the immense aggressiveness of Araújo, by profession salvagoles and a colossus of the Roman circus. When everyone works. When this computation of circumstances occurs, the orchestra plays and the music sounds like hope, even if it is not heavenly yet.
Barça can improve a lot and it has shortcomings, as was seen in the second half at La Cerámica, it lacks finesse and sometimes pause but its rhythm has modernized, its legs have been invigorated and its heart is beating strongly. In melee it is no longer a flan. They don’t go over it. Physically it has become stronger and has become a rock. He will have the chance to prove it on Thursday against Manchester United on Thursday.
In the League he has become the pattern of the season, smooth sailing and unapproachable. He knows how to handle without the ball and spares no sweat to get it back, while putting his rivals in a straitjacket.
It is now when Xavi’s almost year and a half at the helm begins to bear fruit in a real way. Regularly and automatically. See Kessié’s maneuver for Alba against Sevilla. Or Pedri’s goal in Vila-real after a yours-mine with Lewandowski. With the four midfielders as a formula, Barcelona has found a vein through which to shore up the championship, without overwhelming but solidly.
Aware that the team is not round yet, Barça is humble enough to know how to suffer when it fails to maintain control and has established itself as the king of 1-0 or 0-1. Without the burgomaster Busquets, without the duende Dembélé and without having plenty of offensive talent, Xavi’s team rules because he wants to. On the Goya weekend and before the Oscars arrive, we end with another cinephile reference but tuned up. If the film was titled “Guess who’s coming to dinner tonight” in the case of Barça it’s “Guess who’s coming to win tonight”. Add and continue.