Barca at last chained three wins in a row this season. The Barça liked, fired and threw a full party. It is no coincidence: the Barcelona team defeated Athletic, that although it is true that he is more aware of the Cup than anything else (I credit his line-up) he showed his face, he defended himself with order and it was more difficult than the final 4-0 indicates. The Barça confirmed that is in full boil. With some ups and downs throughout the match, Barça was superior to an Athletic team that defended very well, set the pace of the game at all times, took the game to the Basque team’s field, pressed high, stole balls and moved the ball with master’s degree. Pedri was the director of the shed. The materializers of the triumph, Aubameyang and Dembélé, the two friends of Dortmund; striker Luuk De Jong, who came on just in time to score; and the reappeared Memphis. The Gabonese, at the end of a corner action; the mosquito’, with a genius that he won the applause of the public; and the two Dutch to centers of the pardoned French extreme.
[+] See the summary of the match
had to give continuity to the good line of game and results of the parties of Valencia and Naples and the Barça did it. Not without being forced to break the stone and work hard against a good Athletic, a competitor despite having their minds set on next Wednesday’s cup semi-final. Marcellin’s set came out with rotations. They were planned and, as if it were an excel, Raúl García on one side and Yeray and Iñigo on the other shared the match: a part for each one. In addition, the coach from Gijón saved Nico Williams for last. Xavi also refreshed the game after the European Thursday: Frenkie, the best in Naples, stayed on the bench from the start. Alves returned after his absence due to suspension and Alba saw him in turn from the stands. Above, the trident that Xavi has already made his own is immovable: Adama, Aubameyang and Ferran Torres.
Barça-Athletic Club, in pictures
Barca, which moved the game almost always three quarters of the field in front of Unai Simón’s area, imposed a high tempo from the start that made Athletic suffer, with technical details of the two interiors, Pedri and Gavi, and actions by Dest, left back in the absence of Alba, who corrected in time a dangerous mistake against Villalibre, athletic spearhead, or Adama on the right, closely marked by Balenziaga. Even so, there weren’t many chances: Barça attacked well and Athletic defended well. Each to his own, the two made a good game. Better Barça, obviously.
Zarraga rejected almost over the line a shot by Piqué coming out of a corner in one of the best occasions of that overwhelming start for Barça and Gavi finished high in unbeatable position a center of Ferran Torres. Barça pressed and Athletic resisted, with an exit from the nest in a transition that ended in a timid shot by Zarraga himself and a long shot by Vesga as the first Basque attempts.
I couldn’t find Barça the way to convert his domain at times and Xavi introduced a tactical nuance that destabilized the Basque fort: Alves advanced his position side in search of recovering the initiative when Athletic was coming into play and had already warned with a shot from Villalibre. The first fruits of the new position of the Brazilian, in a kind of 3-4-3, came in an electric action inside Adama that ended in an assist for Ferran Torres, whose shot was rejected by Unai Simón.
Award for Barca
And, finally, the goal. The persistence award Barça arrived through Aubameyang at the exit of a corner that Alves served, with a header from Piqué to the crossbar whose rejection was picked up by the Gabonese to finish off at the bottom of the net.
The Barca went on his way after the break, despite the need for Athletic to go out on the attack more: recoveries near the rival area, rapid circulation and search for spaces. Ferran wants to score so much that he tried a direct foul that Iñigo had committed on Gavi. He shot at the barrier. And Unai stopped him one-on-one after having himself recovered a balcony at the edge of the area: he recovered well, drove and ended up finishing fatally.
Step in front of Athletic
The entrance before the final half hour of Nico Williams, who already in the first sprint made Alves gasp, was the sign for Athletic to advance lines for the tie. Sancet tore a card from Piqué, forced to grab it so that it wouldn’t speed away. But that will of Athletic left spaces behind.
AND That’s where the ‘Mosquito’ bit, just entered with some whistles from the public. He quickly turned them into applause and praise. with the party now played in the open field, Dembélé received a pass from Frenkie de Jong on the left of the attack and invented a shot that slipped between Unai and the post. The Camp Nou collapsed.
Already in plan inventions, Pedri, essential for that Barça won the midfield battle, he offered the technical detail of the night when he left Balenziaga’s pressure, that already in his day would have suffered Messi, with a tunnel attached to the band.
The 2-0 gave peace of mind for the final minutes despite the fact that Piqué had difficulties against the fast Iñaki Williams and the expulsion was played. Memphis y Luuk de Jong They put the icing on the two centers of a great Dembélé.
DATASHEET
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen (3); Alves (3), Araujo (3), Piqué (2), Dest (3); Gavi (3) (Frenkie de Jong (3), 66 ‘), Sergio Busquets (2) (Nico (2), 86’), Pedri (4); Adama (3) (Memphis (2), 81 ‘), Aubameyang (3) (Luuk de Jong (3), 86’), Ferran Torres (2) (Dembélé (4), 66 ‘)
ATHLETIC CLUB: Unai Simon (2);
Lekue (2), Vivian (3), Yeray (2) (Iñigo Martínez (2), 46 ‘), Balenziaga (2); Zarraga (2) (Nico Williams (2), 67 ‘), Vencedor (2), Vesga (2) (Dani García (2), 67’) Serrano (2); Raúl García (2) (Sancet (3), 46 ‘), Villalibre (2) (Iñaki Williams (sc), 77’)
goals: 1-0, Aubameyang (); 2-0, Dembele (73′); 3-0, Luuk de Jong
Referee: Cuadra Fernandez (). Cards to Sergio Busquets (48′), Balenziaga (54′), Piqué (69′)
Stadium: Camp Nou. 69,770 spectators