“If we win tomorrow (for today), even cars break.” The phrase, between laughter, is heard between coffees and toasts just two hundred meters from Linarejos, a stadium built in 1955 (two years before the Camp Nou) that, finally, it is going to be remodeled, but these days it still smells like old football. With its unpainted walls of static advertising of Santana Motor, the automobile company that the Junta de Andalucía, owner of the company since the departure of Suzuki, closed after 55 years of activity for the 270 million euros that it dragged, the Linares-Barcelona of this afternoon19:30 hours) is a self esteem boost for the old mining town that wants to be reborn (follow the game live on AS.com).
Linarejos, ten thousand souls, receive tonight the current champion, king of the competition and dominator of it in the 21st century. The Barça, that accumulates 31 titles, five of the last seven, arrives with some suspicion on his Andalusian tour, which takes him today to Jaen lands and the Saturday to Granada. It still accumulates a very high number of COVID casualties and injury; and you are obligated to remain vigilant. Xavi is aware that the stadium tightens, your team has a point of inexperience and there is certain intangibles in these unique matches that not even a great one is capable of handling. For him Barça, remain far away those times of humiliation in Figueras (2001), Novelda (2002) or Gramenet (2004). Those were the lead years. Last season, there was a hecatombre feint in Weather in Cornellà. Dembélé solved it with a huge shot and Pedri, with a majestic career that crowned Braithwaite with a goal assist. None of the three will play in Linares today. Neither Ansu or Luuk de Jong, and a few more. Who should be registered is already Daniel Alves. “He’s a hell of a professional,” Xavi said yesterday. If there is a footballer in the last 18 years who has not minded playing at Anfield or Linarejos, it is the Brazilian. And today Linares thinks he is Liverpool.