Barça, from a panic attack to the joy of Araujo’s goal | Soccer | Sports

It is not yet known very well whether Araujo is the central defender that Flick’s fragile team needs. Waiting to find his place in his own area, the Uruguayan momentarily solved a match that had no solution for Barcelona on the opposing team. With added time already reached, in the last play, the Uruguayan stopped running the band as if he were Lamine, he did not want to wait for the cross that did not arrive to head in the same as Lewandowski and he stood at the top of the small area to cross De Jong’s center with his instep in the 93rd minute. A desperate goal, which evoked the times when Cruyff put on Alexanco of nine.

2

Wojciech Szczesny, Jules Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Eric García, Alejandro Balde (Gerard Martín, min. 75), Pedri (Andreas Christensen, min. 63), Marc Casadó (Ronald Araujo, min. 81), Marcus Rashford, Frenkie de Jong, Lamine Yamal (Roony Bardghji, min. 63) and Toni Fernández (Fermín López, min. 45)

1

Paulo Gazzaniga, Daley Blind, Álex Moreno, Hugo Rincón, Vitor Reis, Axel Witsel, Bryan Gil (Jhon Solís, min. 62), Joel Roca (Yáser Asprilla, min. 67), Arnau Martínez (Lancinet Kourouma, min. 78), Vladyslav Vanat (Cristhian Stuani, min. 67) and Portu (Viktor Tsygankov, min. 62)

Goals
1-0 min. 12: Pedri. 1-1 min. 19: Witsel. 2-1 min. 92: Ronald Araújo

Referee Jesus Gil Manzano

yellow cards

Stuani (min. 74), Álex Moreno (min. 83), Flick (min. 90), Ronald Araújo (min. 93)

red cards

Flick (min. 90)

Araujo was right and Barça won. The victory was celebrated with two cuts of Flick’s sleeves, expelled and just as deranged and confused as the team, lacking authority and overcome by doubts, forgiven by Girona. The coach’s bet on Araujo as a striker turned out well to save a match that looked very bad from the previous one for Barça. Araujo scored when Pedri and Lamine were no longer there.

Right now it is not known what has become of Flick’s Barça. That adventurous and charming team that subdued rivals and enthused fans has gone astray. The final euphoria was as great as the absurdity of their game until Araujo’s goal. It is not new if you review Barcelona’s career and the recent defeats against PSG and Sevilla. The past demanded victory because next Tuesday the Olympiacos awaits and on Sunday there is a classic at the Bernabéu. The victory will most likely be a relief if one takes into account that Barça’s football was often calamitous, conditioned by the inconsistency and vulnerability of the defense and the lack of forwards, surpassed by a very good version of Girona.

Injuries forced each coach to pull out a lineup with forceps. Flick placed Casadó in the midfield with Pedri and De Jong and opted for Toni Fernández along with Rashford and Lamine. The forward of the champion team (Lamine, Lewandowski-Raphinha) has not played even a quarter of an hour since the League began. To a certain extent it was even surprising that the recovered Lamine, the protagonist since the national team break, played at the beginning.

It did not seem like an improvised formation because the game came out easily and quickly, with the field very open, the pressure high and the defense mounted on the divide, with Eric as the left-footed center back and Cubarsí on the right, one more novelty that underlines the changes that the coach gives to the defensive disposition to recover the reliability lost since the departure of Iñigo Martínez. Girona did not leave their area, they retreated and retreated, until they conceded the goal on the first shot that hit Barça’s goal. In the absence of spaces and finishers, the solution was Pedri, who mixed with Koundé and Lamine, to cross with his left foot to Gazzaniga’s left post.

Barcelona gave themselves a break and Girona was able to cross the field on the left side with Joel Roca. Coming off a corner, in the second play, Arnau put in a cross that Witsel finished off with a bicycle kick. The tie upset the Blaugrana, who were increasingly impatient and erratic, fractured in the spinal cord, and the game was at the mercy of Míchel’s forwards: Szczesny won a one-on-one with Vanat, Portu finished off the post over the goal’s exit, Witsel missed a free shot and Bryan Gil finished high when he was alone in front of the Barça goalkeeper.

Although Gazzaniga took a shot at De Jong and Rashford launched a free kick against the crossbar, the Blaugrana lost the ball without stopping, they closed poorly, and were very permeable in the division. Even Pedri failed the simplest passes, the Barcelona fans falling victim to a panic attack against a very well-organized opponent. Flick removed Toni Fernández for Fermín.

Fermín’s mid-range shots supported the Barça attack in a very open match without a clear leader. The change wheel unexpectedly activated the Blaugranas because those replaced were the tired Pedri and Lamine. Flick’s team got closer and better to the area with De Jong and Rashford and Girona maintained its options due to Koundé’s lapses. Nobody seemed tired, much less the brave Araujo, a player at times who does not lose his patience despite playing little with Flick.

The Uruguayan will allow the game to revolve around his goal more than Flick’s plan. More than a problem of imbalances and nuances, of doubts and insecurity, of a situational issue, Barcelona seems to have a structural problem at this point in the League.