What a disappointment. The Barcelona fans who go up to Montjuïc no longer know whether to cry out of sadness or laugh out of nerves. Barça is a constant tragicomedy, which insists on losing one chance after another to compete in the League, the last against Granada. The penultimate team has taken 4 points away from the champion. Xavi’s Barcelona stumbles over the same rock again and again, with a fair defense and a forward lacking aim and plenty of frivolities. Lamine Yamal even goes home sad after a game in which he scored two goals and in which he should smile. Too much cruelty for a 16-year-old boy who is saved from general mediocrity.
There is something about Granada that is holding back Barcelona, ??who have not been able to beat them for three years. Xavi has not achieved it in his three matches, all of which were draws. It didn’t matter that the Andalusian team was the worst away team, that they had only added 1 point – and in the bottom half -, because they arrived at Montjuïc and scored three goals with astonishing ease, just as Villarreal celebrated five two weeks ago.
Granada wants to save itself more than Barça wants to rise, infatuated with losing one chance after another. Not even getting ahead on the scoreboard, they barely benefited from the defeats of Girona and Atlético and are definitively moving away from the leader. The mini winning streak and the reaction after Xavi’s announcement was a mirage. One more.
Barcelona found itself an aggressive rival, with the lesson well learned and eager to clash. The visiting team honored the nickname of its coach, Cacique Medina. Despite Xavi’s warnings in the preview that Granada competed well and did not give anything away, Barça seemed surprised by the resistance of the opponent, who did not give up even with the early 1-0 lead.
Not at all. He pushed the Blaugrana to play in their own field, very close to Ter Stegen, more vague than usual with his foot on his reappearance after 91 days without playing.
The Egarense coach assures that he is focused on the day to day and does not think beyond, much less about Naples and the Champions League. But that is why it was still so surprising that the game plan was what Granada wanted, which is rushing its salvation options.
The Barcelona fans always had a player on top, because Medina sent man-marking, especially with the center backs hanging on the creative interiors. Ignasi Miquel paired up with Gündogan, Rubio took care of Pedri while Hongla, the theoretical pivot, fell behind and did not separate from Lewandowski. All with great intensity, which contrasted with Barça’s parsimony.
With that, the game became a ball, doughy, with more contact than rhythm. The presence of Christensen as a pivot did not help as in Mendizorroza. The speed only came when Cubarsí, with his neat exit, and more so because he played in the right-handed profile, found Lamine Yamal. The winger accelerated a sleepy Barcelona. Whether it was with a low assist that he did not reach despite Lewandowski stretching or reaching the far post to open the scoring. Cancelo caracoled on the left and raised his head to see the entry of the youth player, who only had to put his right leg. It was his second goal in the League, all against Granada. Like later the third.
The goal did not change any of the torpor. If anything, Barcelona forgot to step into the rival area, imprisoned for not knowing how to get out of the cage they had set up for them, without one on one to unbalance, break the pressure and find spaces. Granada’s good work could only be surpassed in plays of personal inspiration from Lamine Yamal, who invented a counterattack, in which Pedri, as a backheel, and Gündogan participated and which Lewandowski missed or, as you prefer, Hongla saved on the line with Battle shaken.
But they were specific actions while Granada was very clear that they had to exploit their right wing with Pellistri. That’s how the tie came. The Uruguayan winger reached the baseline and no one was able to clear his cross until Ricard Sánchez finished it into the net with hardly any discomfort.
It was the first time of the three in which the Andalusians took advantage of the highway behind Cancelo. Because in the second half Pellistri stood there against Ter Stegen, who saved with his face, and the 1-2 was also created with another cross that was not cleared between Cubarsi and Koundé, Uzuni saved and Pellistri pushed into the net.
It doesn’t matter if Ter Stegen or Iñaki Peña are between the posts. Barça’s defense is even comical, determined to defend the rival forwards with their eyes. Ignasi Miquel took advantage of that to put Granada ahead again just three minutes after Lewandowski, after a drop shot by Gündogan, shot Batalla to return the tie. It didn’t last long for Barça, unable to be reliable in their area. Miquel headed and the ball slipped between the post and Ter Stegen, who conceded three goals on his comeback.
Xavi took a gamble with the entry of Raphinha for Cancelo. And later from Guiu for Pedri. But the one who insisted that Barcelona not lose was Lamine Yamal, who had become the star of a team whose talent was fading. The youth player, once again the best and brightest, fought until he stole a ball from Callejón, more concerned with calling for a foul than with preserving possession. The youth player didn’t think about it and hit a left-footed shot at the base of the post that left Batalla without a response.
There were ten more minutes left in the added time, which was extensive, but the best chance came from Uzuni, who was thwarted by Ter Stegen, and not from Barça, who only had a header from Guiu, another youth player, from a cross by Lamine Yamal. The kids are not enough in a tragicomic Barça.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Kounded, Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Cancelo (Raphinha 75), Christensen (Fermin 68), De Jong, Gündogan, Lamine Yamal, Pedri (Marc Guiu 88) and Lewandowski.
Coach: Xavi Hernández
Granada: Batalla, Ricard Sánchez, Rubio, Ignasi Miquel, Maouassa, Sergio Ruiz, Hongla, Gumbau (Torrente 95), Pellistri (Józwiak 84), Melendo (Callejón 75) and Uzuni (Arezo 84)
Coach: Alexander Medina
Stadium: Olímpic Lluís Companys (41,901 spectators)
Referee: Ortiz Arias (Madrid).
Cards: Yellow to Sergio Ruiz and Ignasi Miquel, from Granada, to the Blaugrana coach Xavi Hernández and to Fermín.
Goles: 1-0 Lamine Yamal (14), 1-1 Ricard Sánchez (43), 1-2 Pellistri (61), 2-2 Lewandowski (63), 2-3 Ignasi Miquel (66), 3-3 Lamine Yamal (80).
