It doesn’t always come out heads. And in a season that was being immaculate for Barcelona, Real Sociedad appeared to break the Barça streak of seven consecutive victories. For the first time, Barça left empty-handed. Desperate. With a single shot between the three sticks in 90 minutes. And unmarked. Or yes, because Lewandowski had a goal disallowed due to an alleged offside, which will lead to a tailspin. Because the images say that the front foot was not his, but Aguerd’s. The VAR went crazy. He mixed up the boots or crossed the data. Ridiculous in both cases. On the other hand, Becker’s 1-0 did go up on the scoreboard.
The meeting already started badly. With the focus on Lamine Yamal, in cotton wool due to a bruise on his right ankle, everything indicated that he would not start in the starting eleven. But it wasn’t even an option. He stayed in the stands with Deco and Bojan. As already happened against Osasuna, if he is not there, Barça loses. It remains to be seen if the medical report convinces the RFEF and saves him from playing the two games with the national team.
The one chosen to replace him was Fermín López. Barcelona fans are not used to seeing youth players suffer, one of the many reflections of what Barcelona was like yesterday. Flick’s favorite wild card, moved to the far right, seemed out of place. He could not open the field or transmit the security that Lamine Yamal always gives. Accustomed to playing in the midfield, it was noted that this is not his habitat. With Raphinha there was no such connection. Furthermore, yesterday Raphinha lost almost all the duels with Zubeldia in a Barça that will have to learn to grow in the face of discomfort. Against rivals who, like Alguacil’s, came out pressuring.Suffocating. Taking over Flick’s script.
The German’s plan was intended to be the same as always. Expressing suffocating pressure and showing maximum courage on the defensive line with Iñigo Martínez and Cubarsí who, despite the 10-point gap, wanted against all odds to play with a mask. Between him and Marc Casadó they saved Barça in the early stages of the game. Arriving in time to reject Suchich’s shots and control Becker’s unchecking. But there was not the harmony of other days. Pedri, too intermittent. Koundé too slow. And Bucket is very soft in defense. Barça was a victim of its own tactics.
Let them tell Lewandowski, who had a goal disallowed for offside. The sequence was suspicious. The Pole grabbed a ball that De Jong leaked to him. It looked like it would be lost. Or that Aguerd would reject it. But Lewandowski, always attentive, put his boot to score. And his foot is not a 52. From the VAR, Del Cerro Grande did not see it the same. He considered that it was Lewandowski and not Aguerd who had the clown’s foot. Flick got angry. That’s also news. And so he conveyed it to the referee. Could it be that the semi-automatic offside mistaken Lewandowski’s foot for Aguerd’s?
Whatever it was, that was the turning point that Real Sociedad needed to take over the game. The fans helped him, booing Iñigo Martínez. They have not forgiven him for changing Anoeta for San Mamés when he was 27 years old. De Jong also began to awaken his own old ghosts. It started dynamic and vertical with interesting driving. But afraid to face divided balls. They take him back to the injury he suffered at the Bernabéu and that kept him off the field for five months. He was a victim of that nightmare. He cut a very insecure ball. And he hurt his ankle. He didn’t come out after the break. The only chance Barça had was a volley by Casadó that touched two defenders with Remiro beaten. Nobody imagined that she would be the only one in the entire party.
Instead, the entire game shifted to the area defended by Iñaki Peña. Well centered, the goalkeeper stopped a dangerous lateral foul by Brais Méndez and stopped another new attempt by the destabilizing Kubo. On the third time, neither luck nor his talent was enough to stop Becker’s right hand. Anoeta celebrated with the stands bouncing on their backs. It was thunderous.
Hansi Flick took off his jacket. Angry. Beyond the controversy, Barça did not know how to get out of the rival’s high pressure. So Dani Olmo came in and De Jong left. Also Ansu Fati, Gavi and Pau Víctor to try to score. There was a header from Cubarsí, a save from Iñaki Peña to Oyarzabal and a Becker who forgave the 2-0. Again Anoeta booed Iñigo Martínez, who cut off Barrenetxea’s progression after another cross from Take Kubo. Barça ended up unhinged. Desperate. There was attitude. But without order, Flick’s men left empty-handed.
#Barça #stumbles #controversy #Real #Sociedad
