Champion with Ter Stegen as Zamora and with Lewandowski as Pichichi. This is the summary of the Barça League. Dominator of the areas and undisputed master. The Blaugrana team has had no opposition. To the extent that he has been able to live in flip flops for the last four days. It was noticed, as he closed the championship in Vigo with his third defeat since celebrating the title in Cornellà . A painless setback that puts an end to the team’s official season, which only has one friendly in Japan tomorrow, Tuesday, to start the holidays.
Barça only played individual issues. Celta had the rope of relegation as a threat. In this situation, the most normal thing is for the Vigo team to show more desire, more intention and more intensity. After all, the Blaugrana team has been living in a relative rest for weeks, between farewells, dinners, tributes and plans for the future. The Barça fans who were most interested in the match were Lewandowski, who was already top scorer in Germany for seven seasons, and Ter Stegen, in pursuit of the solo record of clean sheets, something he did not achieve. Life was not going well for the rest, even though Xavi tried to put together a competitive eleven. With the absence of Busquets, who had already said goodbye to the club, the coach decided that Eric Garcia would occupy the position of midfielder, as had already happened in Elche. Although in practice the one who raised the ball many times was Frenkie de Jong, more used to these fights. In front, Ferran Torres returned to the title, but he continued in his loose line of the whole season.
It’s not that Barça were silent, but they were playing without a sixth gear, trying to take advantage of the nerves of a trembling Celta. The crowd that filled BalaÃdos was the living image of fright at the moment when Kessié found the goal. The goal was disallowed by a millimeter offside. The Ivorian was the most dangerous Barcelona player until the break. He tried the long shot and then made it 0-1 with a shot that went off the crossbar.
At Celta, with Aspas on the bench due to physical problems, young Gabri Veiga was at the helm. He tried his luck, showed quality, overflowed and just before the break he scored Celta’s first goal, leaving behind the opposition of Marcos Alonso and Christensen.
The goal visibly angered Ter Stegen, who expected more concentration in the play of his defenders. The German finished La Liga with just 18 goals conceded, the same as Liaño in 1994 and Oblak in 2016, but with a worse average as he was substituted at half-time in Valladolid and his predecessors played the full championship. In Vigo he was substituted when the 60th minute had already passed, because Zamora’s rules indicate that only games with at least one hour of play are counted.
Celta celebrated, relieved, and Barça lost again in the field of a modest team, as happened in Almeria, Valladolid or Vallecas. A matter of relaxation for a champion who was running out of incentives.
It remained to be seen if any of those footballers who seem to be transferable would come forward to claim their rights, as Ansu Fati had done against Mallorca. Meanwhile, Xavi continued to experiment with the pivot, one of his priorities with the departure of Busquets. He withdrew Christensen, turned to Gavi, delayed Eric Garcia and brought on midfielder De Jong.
In practice, it didn’t change much. Barça continued to play at a leisurely pace and Celta retreated to their den. Xavi’s team lacked a lot of venom and the coach brought in Ansu Fati and Dembélé. But what arrived was Gabri Veiga’s second, surprising Iñaki Peña with a lucky cross.
When the match seemed decided, the Barcelona goal came, the work of Ansu Fati’s header, after a cross from Dembélé. The Barcelona reaction did not go any further.
