SougarLord Posted February 28, 2021 Posted February 28, 2021 Look at Ousmane Dembélé. In immediate acceleration. In that way of running that defines him so much. In his long but peculiar stride. His body twists, his feet argue with each other and one is always afraid that he will end up stripping his neck. But he manages to stay upright and not brake until he faces the ball. In the Pizjuán, where Ronald Koeman took him away from the baroque style of lime to offer him the throat of the countryside, Dembélé regained his lost childish smile. And he did it by sliding on the back of Koundé, one of the best centers on the continent, and from where he plotted the great triumph of Barcelona in Seville. A warning at a critical time. The League is still open. But also the Cup, where the Catalans will try to overcome next Wednesday a 2-0 against the same rival. Madness is always grateful in football. Many things can be discussed with Ronald Koeman. Some as important as the usual bad traces of him in the management of the big games or the impossibility of granting his own personality to his team. But it is difficult for him to imagine a more suitable coach to manage a squad full of structural deficiencies, in a club without money or a president. Koeman is also showing that he does not understand fundamentalisms, neither tactical nor personal. He lives in constant correction. Without fear of reproach. In Seville he rejected Griezmann and sent his team to press from a 3-5-2. The Wembley hero's survival instinct is commendable. All that caught Julen Lopetegui with a changed foot, who saw how the first act slipped away without even being able to respond. Closing with three centrals (Piqué as free, accompanied by Lenglet and the impetuous Mingueza) allowed Barcelona to catch Sevilla in their own field. The locals were left without links. Rakitic, who reached the title despite the good dynamics with which Óliver Torres arrived, gave himself up to wandering. The Papu was thus trapped in the band. And you know what happens when artists run out of canvas, they scribble on nothing. Jordán and Fernando did what they could to contain De Jong's advances, although everything remained pending that Messi did not launch Dembélé in the race. TRAPPED KOUNDÉ The French striker had a double mission. Not only to finally offer verticality to a team that he has been missing for months an offensive reference. Dembélé also had to cut off any temptation by Koundé to return to emulate Beckenbauer. Koeman had not forgotten that the Sevilla central defender was able to whistle into the Barça area in the cup fall. The opening goal was nothing more than a logical consequence. Sevilla stumbled out. Lenglet cleared badly and towards his own arm, although it was Busquets who finished snatching possession from Fernando. Messi turned nonsense into genius. With the parsimony of someone who plays with his hands linked behind his back, the Argentine, with a simple touch, caused Dembélé to fly. Neither Koundé nor Diego Carlos managed to catch him and helplessly attended to the striker's perfect definition. Sevilla, as impotent as against Dortmund in the Champions League, could only increase the demand. Diego Carlos looked for the tickles to Messi. And the Argentine, far from wrinkling, also raised the revolutions. So much so that in just four minutes the expulsion was played. Hernández Hérnandez excused him the second yellow after Messi aborted a counterattack in the center of the field. THE IRRUPTION OF ILAIX MORIBA Lopetegui rarely gets carried away. The first thing he did when the game resumed was to trace the line of three central Barcelona centers, hide Diego Carlos in case the cables had just crossed, get rid of Papu and Munir and see if En-Nesyri's speed could bother the bruised Pique. The Barcelona defender, with muscle discomfort already in the first half, had to end up giving his position to Araujo. The Uruguayan, who reappeared, injured his left ankle again. He endured a quarter of an hour. Pedri also pointed to collateral damage, supplied by an unexpected hero. Because the also beardless Ilaix Moriba ended up becoming the ultimate torment for Sevilla. There can be no better good fortune for a youth squad than Messi's blessing. The Rosario entrusted the wall to Ilaix, who showed his spur to restore confidence. La Pulga no longer had to do what he always did. He cut Fernando's hip and culminated the rebellion of a Barcelona that refuses to write his epitaph. "I finally understand how crazy he is!" This is how The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was closed. Because in the sinister, sanity can always be found. Even in this Barcelona.
Recommended Posts