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Barcelona will finish the weekend in third position in the the league table and just two points off second place thanks to a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Celta Vigo in the Bleated Stadium on Saturday night. Barça were far from their best throughout the night and had to wait until the 97th minute to take the three points, but a double from Robert Lewandowski and another decisive performance from Lamine Yamal gave them the victory. blaugrana the three points in one of the toughest fields in the country.
FIRST HALF
The first 45 minutes followed a very clear pattern: Celta sat down and parked the bus, and Barça had all the ball and tried to move it patiently to create chances. But while the blaugrana They did a solid job moving from the back to midfield, struggled to find space in the final third and wasted quite a few good attacks with poor touches and misplaced passes from the forwards.
Celta threatened a couple of times on the counterattack, mainly exploring the space left behind João Cancelo on the left side of the Barça defense, but Marc-André ter Stegen never had to make a real stop and Ronald Araujo used his speed and power to put out some fires.
The match was quite physical, with some hard fouls from both sides, and it looked like we were destined for a goalless draw at half-time until a magical moment came in the 45th minute: Lamine Yamal found Robert Lewandowski on the edge of the area. . , and the Pole put the ball on his right foot before unleashing a sensational shot into the far corner to give Barça a crucial lead with a special goal.
Shortly after the half-time whistle sounded and the visitors had taken the lead after a very close first half. But Celta was still in the game and the second half promised to be more open as the home team looked for a response.
SECOND HALF
Celta only needed 90 seconds to turn the game around: the locals moved the ball quickly from back to front through the Barça defense, and a good assist from Óscar Mingueza ended with a shot from Iago Aspas that Jules Kounde deflected and went over. from Ter Stegen to tie.
The early goal allowed Celta to remain committed to its defensive approach without needing to take risks, and the home team continued in a very low block trying to frustrate the Barça attack. Xavi Hernández brought on Ilkay Gündogan and Raphinha hoping to get a spark off the bench at the hour mark, and the blaugrana They continued to have the majority of possession as they searched for a winner.
As time went on and Barça couldn’t even get close to a real chance, Celta looked increasingly comfortable with a point and employed some serious time-wasting tactics to slow the pace of the match in the final minutes. It looked like the home team were going to pick up a valuable point without conceding a late chance, but a relatively harmless cross from Lewandowski was not adequately cleared by the Celta defense and Fran Beltrán pushed Yamal into the area, with the referee pointing to the spot on the 94th minute.
Lewandowski advanced and fired a weak shot that was easily stopped by Vicente Guaita, but the Celta goalkeeper went off his line and the penalty had to be taken again after a quick VAR review; Lewandowski took a step forward again and this time he couldn’t miss, finding the bottom corner and giving Barça the lead.
Celta had a few more minutes to find the miracle of a draw, but could not create any chances and had to settle for defeat when the final whistle came. This was tense and had the usual wild ending that usually happens when these two teams meet in Bleatedbut the game was not good at all and Barça does not seem to be as prepared for the Champions League as it should be.
But all three points are welcome and are quite rare in Bleated, and Lewandowski and Yamal were once again decisive. If these two appear again in Naples, Barça will have a chance. They just need the rest of the team to show up too.
Celtic: Guaita; Mingueza (Vázquez 85′), Starfelt, Domínguez (Núñez 46′), Ristic (Sánchez 58′); Allende (Swedberg 77′), Beltrán, Tapia, De La Torre; Aspas, Larsen (Douvikas 85′)
Goal: Blades (47′)
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo (Iñigo 46′), Cubarsí, Cancelo; Pedri (Fermín 75′), Christensen (Gündogan 58′), De Jong; Yamal (Romeu 90+10′), Lewandowski, Roque (Raphinha 58′)
Goals: Lewandowski (45′, penalty 90+7′)