The Barça likes in a delivered Camp Nou
Dembélé and Pedri beat Athletic, who thought more about the Cup
MADRID, 27 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Barça extended its good run with a 4-0 win over Athletic Club this Sunday on matchday 26 of LaLiga Santander held at the Camp Nou, a comfortable match for the azulgranas, more than expected, to continue fourth in the table and have a shot at the podium.
Xavi Hernández’s men have chained seven games without losing, five wins and two draws, by beating the one who was their last executioner. In addition, the Catalans are one point behind Betis, third, with one game in hand. Marcelino’s were not even the shadow of the tie in the Copa del Rey, a competition in which they actually had their eyes, for Wednesday’s semifinal against Valencia.
Barça sent to continue in their pulse for the ‘Top 4’ and not give up making the leader Real Madrid doubt (with 15 points). The locals sent with good rhythm and good ideas, with Pedri, Adama, Aubameyang and Dembélé as standouts. The Frenchman silenced the Camp Nou whistles in five minutes with the 2-0 goal and then assisted for the third and fourth already in added time.
Away from San Mamés, with many changes thinking about the Cup, the ‘lions’ were less fierce and Barça also took advantage of the good recent moment, liking in the end for the emergence of Dembélé and the quality of Pedri. Xavi’s team left another good performance, with the canary at the controls. The culé team put the fluidity of the ball achieved with the confidence of the results and Adama Traoré began to work down the wing.
This is how the first locals arrived, with Athletic well armed, in their perfect balance, although without having an exit. Barça did not find holes inside, but their plays carried danger. Ferran and Gavi also appeared, while Vesga had a deflected shot in the first visitor. Without Muniain or Iñaki Williams, Athletic lacked ideas and Barça did not tire of looking for the goal. In another good combination, Ferran forgave again and went to a set piece, in a corner kick, which made it 1-0.
Piqué hit the crossbar and the rebound went straight to Aubameyang, a scorer who shows that he is still the magnet, as well as a lot of quality. He failed Marecelino’s plan just before the break and in the second half he didn’t achieve depth either. The challenge was knowing how to dominate the outcome and Barça also passed that test.
Marcelino put in Dani García and the Williams, but Barça was in danger in their domain and did not suffer. Xavi also had options on the bench and brought in Frenkie de Jong and Dembélé. The Frenchman suffered the whistles again from the Camp Nou, due to his decision not to renew for the club thinking about his departure.
The Frenchman eradicated the whistles with a whiplash with his left foot to the squad with the short stick. Dembélé was the best before the soap opera and took another step to be the best again with two assists. Luuk De Jong and Memphis took advantage of them on their return after injury. For Athletic it means more work to reach Europe via the League, although for that the Cup has its double prize.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: FC BARCELONA, 4 – ATHLETIC CLUB, 0. (1-0, at halftime).
–ALIGNMENTS.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Alves, Araujo, Pique, Dest; Busquets (Luuk De Jong, min. 87), Gavi (De Jong, min. 67), Pedri; Adama (Memphis, min.82), Ferran (Dembélé, min.67) and Aubameyang (Eric García, min.87).
ATHLETIC CLUB: Unai Simon; Lekue, Vivian, Yeray (Iñigo Martínez, rest), Balenziaga; Winner, Vesga (Dani García, 67), Zarraga (Nico Williams, min. 67), Serrano; Raúl García (Sancet, rest) and Villalibre (Iñaki Williams, min.77).
–GOALS:
1 – 0, min.37, Aubameyang.
2 – 0, min.73, Dembele.
3 – 0, min.90, Luuk De Jong.
4 – 0, min.93, Memphis.
–REFEREE: Cuadra Fernández (Balearic C.). He admonished Busquets (min.48) and Piqué (min.70) by Barça. And Balenziaga (min. 54) at Athletic.
–STADIO: Camp Nou.