#Wittels- Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 The azulgrana team cannot get past a draw at the Camp Nou, sterile in the first act and challenged in the auction in the second Barcelona has had a hard time saying theirs in Europe for a long time, be it in the Champions League or now in the Europa League, even though in the last tie they gave a good account of Naples (far from the Camp Nou). Thus, against the weak Galatasaray -twelfth in the Turkish league-, Xavi's team wasted the first half and when he tried to recompose himself in the second he argued with the shot and the aim, unable to break the tie. Some tables that know little for the Barça offensive flow and that explain that the supposed favoritism in the Europa League still has to be earned, now required to prevail in the heated Turkish stadium to step into the quarterfinals. Galatasaray gave the ball and all initiative to Barcelona because they decided to defend with everything - the only one who was left behind was Mohamed, the center forward - and they attacked with very little, subject to some cons that did not arrive. It happened, however, that the Barça team had a hard time finding the routes or ramps towards the goal, since the ball circulated too slowly and did not attack the spaces either, lacking the imagination to make the last pass. He did try it on the sides, with the surprise arrivals of the wings and especially with Adama, always the protagonist with his runs and dodges, but the centers were left orphaned by definition. So without clear chances with the ball in motion, Memphis asked for his turn with a wonderful free kick from the edge of the wall. To his misfortune, Iñaki Peña - who left the Camp Nou in the winter market - replied with an even better stretch. Something similar happened shortly after, as the Dutchman cut at the top of the area and released a cross shot that required a good popcorn from the rival goalkeeper. But Barcelona offered little else in the first act, to the point that it even seemed to catch the rhythm of the rival, scarce in the breaking unchecks, far from finding the third man in the opposite field. Insufficient to flake Domènec Torrent's Galatasaray, who took refuge in his young courage, the left winger Akturkoglu, who scored a slalom down the left and stood at the edge of the area to put fear into Ter Stegen's body, finally saved by Eric García because he put his leg in a time to deflect the shot to a corner. Xavi didn't like what he saw on the pitch so little that he made three changes at once at the start of the second half, as Piqué, Busquets and Dembélé came on for Araujo, Nico and Ferran. The idea worked because the team took the ball better from behind, gave it more rhythm in the axis and, above all, opened up more to the rival defense by playing with two pure wingers. The occasions multiplied: a shot that did not see Adama's door; a header from Busquets; a volley from Jordi Alba… But the team was at odds with the shot and that's why Aubameyang also entered, who almost missed a Dembélé cross when a goal was already being sung at the Camp Nou. Dembélé later tried it with a shot from outside the area and Frenkie De Jong with a shot to the remanguillé that spat out the stick, even though the referee later annulled it due to a prior foul by Pedri. As a last resort, Luuk de Jong entered, the revulsive by definition, the auctioneer. Although on this occasion I did not find the miraculous recipe to express Barça's trigger against Galatasaray and to emphasize that everything must be decided in Turkey. "Don't stop, don't stop because it was good!" Xavi shouted just before intermission from the sideline after a pass from Adama to Memphis inside the area. The Dutchman threatened to run but stopped and the ball ended up in the hands of the rival goalkeeper. A clear example of what the first half has been for Barcelona... More than anything because Adama is the one who claims the ball from the right and Memphis the one who wants to end the plays, but neither gets away with it to give with a Barça without ideas or punch. We'll see if Xavi moves pieces or changes cards at the start of the second half. See misses Busquets in the build while Aubameyang would fix defenses a bit more and perhaps attack more into space rather than make support runs. Link: https://elpais.com/deportes/2022-03-10/barcelona-galatasaray-en-directo-la-liga-europa-en-vivo.html
Recommended Posts