Old derby, new illusion – AS.com

In the line of succession of Barcelona, there is faith that the Xavi era that begins today is a kind of third generation. After Cruyff and Guardiola, hopes are pinned on the figure who raised possession football to the top. Probably the best player in the history of Spain. Or at least, his stamp.

Expectations, then, are unleashed at Can Barça. Before coming, Xavi knew that this would be inevitable, so he will have to carry that. But also go slowly and, oddly enough, embrace cholismo. He is going to make it great at Barça game by game. And it starts with a pointed one. Espanyol arrives at the Camp Nou with teeth out. Vicente Moreno has rebuilt a team that has not only risen, it has also grown (follow the game live on As.com).

To get to Les Corts like a motorcycle, Espanyol doesn’t even need to remember that their decline in 2019 occurred at the Camp Nou amid fireworks. Nor that he has been more than 9,000 days without being ahead of his eternal rival in the classification at this point. What moves him and makes him feel strong is that he has arguments to hurt Barça. Pedrosa’s engine on the left, Darder’s class as a steering wheel, Aleix’s racing, Embarba’s spark and, of course, RdT, a striker with a special talent and with the rush of having debuted in Luis’s excellent Selection Enrique. For a long time, in a derby, Espanyol did not have the player, theoretically, the most destabilizing of the game with his shirt. Today, RdT may be among the 22 who will go to Camp Nou today.

It is an old derby, then, of new illusion. Barcelona fans have mobilized in the last two weeks. They sense that everything will be fine and that with Xavi essence will be recovered. For that, however, you need human capital. And the Barça is without forwards. He barely has Memphis and kids from the subsidiary (Abde, Ilias, Balde …). Xavi went yesterday to terms such as family, pineapple or values, perhaps aware that right now, with what he has, he will not reach him only with football. For parakeets, this time, that “força d’un sentiment” sounds better than ever. The focus on Xavi allows them to face the game covered. But they are extremely hungry. It is indisputable that the derby has recovered a neighborhood point lost in the days of the Disneyland culé.