FC Barcelona was launched until February arrived. Then, he was left without Dembélé’s dribbling and imbalance, then without Pedri’s creativity and pause and now without Lewandowski’s goal and intimidation power. All due to muscle injury. The three, essential pieces in Xavi’s system, will not be at the Bernabeu on Thursday in the first leg of the Cup semifinals against Madrid. The blaugrana, decimated, reach the classic after being eliminated from the Europa League and losing in Almería, where they left one of the eight points they had at the top of the League table.
The last to enter the infirmary was Robert Lewandowski on Sunday in Almería. The striker, the team’s top scorer with 25 goals, finished the match with an overload on the hamstring in the thigh of his left leg. After seven starts in a row, the 34-year-old Pole had long been seen with heavy legs. He only kicked once in Manchester, the 1-0 penalty, and in Almería he was unable to direct any shot between the sticks despite the 47 balls that the Blaugrana crossed.
The calculations in Barcelona are that the scorer will be out for 15 days since there is no fibrillar rupture. In other words, he will not be available for this first cupbearer classic – he already beat Courtois in the Super Cup final in Riyadh – nor to receive Valencia. Depending on his evolution, he could reappear at San Mamés, although, that’s for sure, he will be ready for Barça-Madrid on March 19, the day the League can be decided.
The misfortune of Lewandowski, who had not been injured in that area since November 2017, coincides with a drop in results for Xavi’s team, which for the first time this season has chained two consecutive defeats after going 18 games without losing. Barça did not remain without scoring since October.
In the Almería stadium, Xavi was seen shouting on the wing asking Busquets and Gavi for more intensity, and by extension the entire team, he was booked for the fifth time and will have to serve a sanction against Valencia and he even went so far as to apologize to the fans in the press room after the 1-0 final. “We haven’t won the League for three years. I don’t understand the first part of the team. Without passion, we will not win the title, ”he reasoned. It was just as hard in the locker room. Inside doors, the Egarense coach was just as raw and harsh with his players, whom he reproached for the little appetite they showed to give an important bite to the League. Once the match was over, Xavi’s disgust continued to be high for having thrown overboard with an inoperative performance an unbeatable opportunity to extend the advantage at the top of the table.
After a few hours, yesterday the coach met his players again before training, in a more reflective and less visceral chat. Barça’s position in the lead continues to be comfortable, with a seven-point margin, and the message is that we must insist on the image of almost unapproachable solidity so as not to leave the slightest loophole for the pursuer.
The other nail that Barcelona clings to is that they have been able to win the five games in which Lewandowski has not participated. The Pole rested in Pilsen in the Champions League and against Intercity in the Cup, and missed three league games due to suspension: Atlético, Getafe and Girona.
It happens that the scorer, signed for 45 million, has not been a natural replacement in the squad since the club accepted Chelsea’s offer for Aubameyang in the summer. Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati, whom the coaching staff hopes to recover from the bruise on his left knee that kept him from moving to Almería, are fighting for the position of nine at the Bernabeu on Thursday. Both the youth squad and the Valencian know what it is to mark Madrid.
