There are two versions of Flick’s Barça. The lethal one. The cash. The scorer. But there is also the childish, the impulsive and the overconfident when the score is not wide enough. Yesterday at the Benito Villamarín against Betis the second Barça ate the first. Not even Lamine Yamal, by far Barça’s best, could work the miracle in the middle of Seville’s Magna Week. The Betic procession fell like a stone on the blaugranas. It was a draw with the taste of defeat. The ghosts of the month of November return. And the worst thing is that Barça made life complicated for itself. Lewandowski opened the scoring. Lo Celso tied with a penalty in the second half. And Ferran Torres, thanks to the magic of Lamine Yamal, scored the second. But it wasn’t enough. In a final rush, in added time that seemed eternal, Diao made it 2-2.
There was no miracle. And Flick did not hold back anything and opted for his gala eleven that started sleepily under the spring temperature of Seville. In three minutes, Betis took advantage of the intensity and desire to vindicate itself of two of the four former Barcelona fans in their ranks. The first was Marc Bartra. The Betis captain has blended in perfectly with the city and the club. But he came across Raphinha and his alkaline batteries. The Brazilian doesn’t just score. Now it stops too. He showed it by standing between the sticks to stop Bartra’s shot in the extension of a corner. There were three more corner kicks from Betis. In four minutes. It was clear that Barça was taking a nap. Koundé was especially asleep, who missed another ex-Blaugrana player, Ez Abde. Thank goodness the winger is going through an erratic crisis. And thank goodness that Iñaki Peña, who had a lot of work yesterday and who saved Barça from a major embarrassment, woke up on time taking out his right mitten.
It was clear that Betis lacked confidence in the final shots. But he had studied the offside lesson well. Casadó quickly realized this and began to put things in order. Recovering balls. Pressing on recovery after loss. Trying to help the team show its strength in front of the goal. Flick applauded him, thanking him for the initiative. And he was followed by Iñigo Martínez and Cubarsí, who began to start the plays. With his diagonals, Balde opened the field, beating Chimy Ávila. But the matter did not come to fruition in the final meters because Olmo, lately less participative, needed to take advantage of the advantageous situations. For the rest, Barça was attentive. That he didn’t score a goal was more of a detriment to him than to Betis, insecure and far from the initial rush in which he dominated the ball and the stage. It was clear in the atmosphere that it was a matter of minutes before things went awry. But it was necessary to do it thinking. With serenity. That’s how it was. A new version of Barça appeared that Flick must exploit. That of a team that, cooking possessions over low heat and through hard-worked collective action, opened the scoring with a goal from Lewandowski. The play was a procession. Far from the verticality that identifies Flick’s Barça. It was started by Iñaki PeÑa. And it lasted more than a minute. The only ones who did not touch the ball were Olmo and Raphinha. But everything was unleashed with Pedri. The Canarian, looking for the inside game, accelerated and unmarked himself to receive a ball from Lamine Yamal. The youth player offered it to Koundé who, well positioned on the back line, between the goalkeeper and the centre-backs, gave it to Lewandowski.
After the break, Flick began to call the substitutes, already thinking about Dortmund. Here appeared the fateful version of a Barça that is a victim of itself. That he once again sinned in trust, believing himself superior and relaxing. That is to say, failing his great pending subject again. All except Iñaki Peña, who once again demonstrated with his right hand why Flick believes in him. He stopped Abde’s header from the second line. And another shot from Chimy Ávila that lifted the entire stadium.
The performance of the fourth Betis footballer with a Barcelona past was missing. Vitor Roque, who before starting the game greeted the entire Barça coaching staff in his only minute of prominence so far, caused a penalty when De Jong, who had just entered for Olmo, ran over him, taking off even his boot. After a few minutes in which the audience deafened the atmosphere, the VAR certified the maximum penalty. And Lo Celso tied.
Barça had to start again. And without a coach because Flick was sent off for the first time since he arrived at Barça. From the box the German made two surprising changes. He seated Pedri, the game’s greatest generator, and Lewandowski, its executor. Gavi and Ferran Torres entered his place. Nervous, Barça completely blurred. Ferran Torres was offside twice. But this Barça has Lamine Yamal. Your secret weapon. The youth squad took the team on his back. Dribbling. Filtering balls. Assuming responsibilities at 17 years old. Confirming a dependency that deserves serious reflection. From the right wing he leaked a ball to Ferrancon on the inside of his blessed foot. Ferran did not fail this time. But Betis still saved one last arreón. Diao finished alone against the defensive weakness of Iñigo Martínez in added time. The ghosts return. The shadow of the month of November returns. It had been seven years since Barça had only won at the Benito Villamarín. It’s over.
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