Linares 1-Barcelona 2 | Dembélé, the angel of Barça in Linarejos to avoid a disaster

In the middle of a storm due to the matter of its renewal, Ousmane Dembélé, an angel sometimes, a demon most of the time, raised his hand in Linares and arranged for Barça a night that painted dogs in the rain in Linarejos. The French had time to test negative in the morning on the COVID test, get on the plane to Granada, arrive wrapped in clothes at the Santiago hotel in the city of Jaén and go out to solve the Linarejos ambush. With 1-0, and in a compromised situation, Xavi put it on and the Frenchman changed the face of the game with 1-1, which put down a pass to the second round signed by the youth squad Jutglà, whose matches since he debuted as a Barça player , in any of the positions that Xavi places him, it should be taken into account. In short, Dembélé danced in the rain in Linarejos and left the usual question in the air, whether or not a Barça effort is worth it.

The great one in the first half, however, was Linares because he was the one who won the small details. He let Barça hang around Razak’s goal for as long as necessary, but he nailed it 1-0 thanks to Hugo Díaz, who appeared in the area as if that was not with him and ate Mingueza’s toast, who after offering the lime in Mallorca with the center from 0-1 to Luuk de Jong, gave the sand in Linarejos and committed an unacceptable disengagement.

The 1-0 turned on Linarejos, who had assisted somewhat off a serious start for Barça, which before Linares’ blow was able to get ahead in a header from Ronald Araújo and an arrival from Ilias, who was running out of gas as the first part progressed. Xavi saw it too.

Xavi must have not liked something of the initial approach, because during the first half he already rectified the position of his centrals. But that was not enough. Barça dribbled a scoring chance every five minutes: Nico, Riqui, Eric and some arrival of Alba from the left, but it seemed that Linares were feeling more and more comfortable on stage. Alberto González, a pragmatist with a thousand battles despite his youth, had worked the game well. Not only in the action of 1-0, a play of a lifetime behind the defense; also offensive transitions. No arabesques. Direct, fast. To the heart of the rival defense. Barça, a strainer in the middle, let Josema do a coast to coast and Linares did not go 2-0 at halftime by a miracle.

Aware of the humiliation that, in any case, losing to a very inferior team entails, Xavi did a good thing at halftime. Put in all the artillery, because it was very difficult to understand that Dembélé, who has been resting all season, was not in the field before. The Frenchman did what is required of a player with his market value, to tie the game in an action in which he had the collaboration of Razak. Far from controlling it, Barça let the game enter in a strange round trip. He conceded a goal that was disallowed, a ball hit the crossbar and, this time, it was the big one. Jutglà, after an excellent transition led by Alves, a professional on his return, and Nico, a player with an imposing physical presence, signed 1-2 in the rain and finished relieving the night for Xavi and Barça, who left alive from the ambush of Linares and stepped eighth.