The derby returns to the Camp Nou. And there is desire on both sides. At Barça (9th) the illusion for the debut of Xavi Hernandez on the bench, still without Dani Alves until January, but with a renewed atmosphere in the dressing room and the obligation not to miss more. Opposite will be tonight (9:00 p.m./Movistar LaLiga) a Spanish (11th) which descended to Monday A in his previous visit on July 8, 2020 (1-0) with fireworks outside a stadium with empty stands due to the pandemic.
There will not be exactly a Blaugrana party today if the parakeets break the bank and win in Barcelona for the first time since 2008-09 (1-2) and surpass the culés in the table. With one game less (shift to Sevilla the 21-D), the Barça adds the same points (17) that the Spanish with very different sensations so far. With less than half of the possible 36 points, the need is pressing in the premises, 10 from the Real society, nine from Madrid and with the Champions area, which closes the Athletic, to six points. No longer Ronald Koeman and with Sergi Barjuan as interim, two draws before the break against Alaves (1-1) at home and Celtic on Sweep (3-3), especially painful this after wasting a 0-3 at half-time, pushed the team away even further Barça of the head. Major challenge, therefore, the one that assumes Xavi. And already in a derby with a lot at stake three days before a final against him Benfica with the pass to the second round of the Champions League in case of victory. After being applauded by more than 9,000 fans at his presentation, the Egarense returned to the temple yesterday for the traditional photo with the rival coach, Vicente Moreno. The positive inertia installed in the culé atmosphere will be noticed with a good entrance, close to that of the Classic before him Real Madrid (86.422).
Barça-Espanyol preview
From the words it will be necessary to move on to the facts. Xavi, as he reiterated yesterday, he has a clear formula to straighten the course and the image of a Barça that will recover some troops such as Pique, Sergi Roberto, Eric and Nico, the two who ended up ‘touched’ in Vigo. Even without Pedri, Dembele ni Ansu, there are several unknowns for eleven. Will it be charged to Pique and will bet on Eric and Araujo as central? Do youMingueza O Sergi Roberto in the right lane? 4-3-3 or a formula with more means in the absence of pure ends?
And in the same way that Xavi and his staff have been preparing with care for two weeks to win at once after 2 of 12 from 3-1 to Valencia, Vicente Moreno does not lag behind in pursuit of the first victory away from Cornellà-El Prat throughout the course. Only three draws in six starts. Parallel lives in this sense with the Barça, also unable to beat at home like Villarreal, Levante and Getafe. Yet it reigns in the Spanish the feeling of being able to silence the Estadi after driving the Real Madrid (2-1) a month and a half ago and only fell to him Athletic (1-2) at 99 ‘. Defensive solvency with a Diego Lopez huge in his 40s and the killer instinct of Raúl de Tomás, grown after his debut as an international with a World Cup gift ticket, endorse the parrot options. Only surpassed by the ‘Pichichi’ Karim Benzema (10), the Madrilenian total seven goals, one more than Memphis Depay, the only clear offensive reference in the Barça.
The derby will also be a test against the problems culés to generate imbalance and increase the effectiveness. Only 13 goals have conceded the parrots in this League, two less than the Catalans, forced to raise to 14 the winning streak (including two in the Cup) in the derbies at the Camp Nou whose partial presents a devastating 40-3. Carlos del Cerro Grande will act as judge. The Madrilenian expelled Frenkie de Jong in Cádiz (0-0) in September as he did in the last derby at the RCDE Stadium in January 2020, before lockdown. High voltage guaranteed on the pitch and passion in the stands for a rivalry recovered two and a half years after the previous derby with an audience in the Camp Nou (2-0 on March 30, 2019).
Read also