:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73109551/1976100335.0.jpg)
[ad_1]
Three huge points and a solid performance
Barcelona has reached 50 points and rises to third place in the standings. the league classification thanks to a hard-fought 3-1 victory against Deportivo Alavés in the mendizorroza Saturday night. In a very competitive match, Barça played well for an hour, were brutally efficient in their chances and protected their lead despite being left with 10 men after another refereeing disaster that made them suffer much more than necessary in the end, but Los Catalans did the job and escaped the Basque Country with three huge points and a second consecutive victory in the league.
FIRST HALF
The first 45 minutes were fairly even, as both teams had a good plan and mostly denied each other, with Barça naturally having more possession of the ball but struggling to find consistent passing sequences and spaces in the attacking field against the Alavés marking scheme.
The home team pressed high and did not allow Barça any joy with the ball as soon as they crossed the midfield line, and they also knew perfectly what to do in possession: Alavés used quick passes along the lines to find space on the wings. and sent several crosses into the area, and there were quite a few scares in the air for the Barça defense.
Midway through the period came the first goal, after an excellent sequence of passes down the Catalans’ left wing that finally created space in the final third for Ilkay Gündogan to come in, receive the ball and make a magnificent pass to Robert Lewandowski, who He showed great calm to chip the goalkeeper and overtake the visitors to finish off a great team play.
Alavés reacted well and regained some possession, and should have equalized at the end of the half when Luis Rioja’s cross found Jon Guridi alone inside the six-yard box, but the midfielder’s header went wide. straight to Iñaki Peña who made an important stop for the blaugrana.
The half-time whistle brought an end to a competitive first half, and although Barça had the lead, the match was clearly far from over and Alavés looked ready to launch an early attack to get back into the game in the second half.
SECOND HALF
The first five minutes of the last half were wild: Barça doubled their advantage after a long ball from behind that started a counter that ended with a spectacular assist from Pedri and a beautiful volley from Gündogan. However, before Barça had finished celebrating, Alex Sola made a fantastic solo run down the right flank and his cross found Samu Omorodion alone in the box for an easy header to get Alaves back into the game.
All of this happened before reaching the 50th minute, and the game was still open and with momentum on the Alavés side. The home team seemed confident and continued to attack in the next 10 minutes, but Barça did a solid job of not allowing a real chance and slowly regained some control.
And with half an hour left, the Catalans regained their two-goal lead: Lamine Yamal made his brilliant solo run down the right wing and found Frenkie de Jong, who quickly passed the ball to Hector Fort and the young full-back. On his return he met Vitor Roque, who only needed three minutes on the pitch to score as a substitute for the second consecutive game with a great instinctive shot.
Then the young Roque was the victim of two terrible referee decisions that changed the course of the game: in just five minutes the Brazilian received two soft yellow cards, the second for barely touching an Alavés defender in a play that should have caused Barça to foul. 30 seconds before, and the blaugrana They were suddenly down to 10 men with 15 minutes left.
Alavés, who had run out of answers and almost accepted defeat at that moment, suddenly received a push from the referees and returned to the attack after making a couple of daring changes and playing with nothing to lose and with one more man in the countryside. passed.
Barça, with 10 men, had no choice but to retreat and park the bus to protect their advantage while looking for one more golden opportunity to kill the game on the counterattack. Xavi Hernández made a couple of defensive changes to shore up the backfield and the final minutes were played almost entirely on the field. blaugranaAlavés were chasing a late miracle.
The visitors did an admirable job of defending their lead in the final seconds, and Alavés never found a second goal to begin their comeback attempt. The final whistle came to put an end to a match as tough as announced, but which ended with a well-deserved victory for a Barça team that knew when to play good football and when to fight.
The referees are still trying their hardest to make life for Barça as miserable as possible this season, but the good guys still found a way to win this one. Vitor Roque made another huge impact despite his undeserved red card, and Xavi’s men showed remarkable resilience despite facing adversity from a good Alavés team, as well as those who are supposed to be neutral parties in the field. In fact, it is us against the world. Well done guys!
Alavés: Sivera; Tenaglia (Hagi 77′), Marín, Duarte, López; Blanco (Benavidez 77′), Guevara; Solá, Guridi (Rebbach 64′), Rioja (Simeone 64′); Samu (Panichelli 87′)
Goal: Samú (51′)
Barcelona: Grief; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsí (Iñigo 83′), Cancelo (Fort 46′); Christensen (Romeu 83′), De Jong; Yamal, Gündogan (Roque 59′), Pedri (Fermín 75′); Lewandowski
Goals: Lewandowski (22′), Gündogan (49′), Roque (63′)
Red card: Rock (72′)
Read more