Barcelona suffered for a half-time against the Red Lantern Valladolid, already relegated, before prevailing (2-1) and keeping his Dauphin Real Madrid at the head of the Liga.
Four days from the end, Barça has seven points ahead of her big rival, which receives Celta Vigo on Sunday afternoon (2:00 p.m.) before moving to Eight days in Barcelona for the “Clasico” return.
This success obtained in pain thanks to goals from Raphinha (54th) and Fermin Lopez (60th) after the early opening of the score of Ivan Sanchez Aguayo for Valladolid (6th) allows Barcelona to turn to the semi-final returning from the Champions League on Tuesday in Milan against Inter (3-3 on the outward).
Faced with Valladolid, a club accustomed to back and forth between first and second divisions and already convicted with 16 points after 33 days, the Catalan team presented itself with an eleven largely renewed, with nine changes compared to the first leg against Inter.
German coach Hansi Flick had to compensate for the absences of the injured Robert Lewandowski and Jules Koundé. He also chose to blow out certain executives such as his nugget Lamine Yamal, the striker Raphinha or goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, before Tuesday’s match in San Siro.
Marc-André Ter Stegen, absent since September due to a knee injury, returned to the cages. The young Bissau-Guinean striker Ansu Fati, ancient Pousse of the Blaugrana training center with the now starry playing time, has been established at the start.
In this extreme match, Valladolid players, which their owner and former Brazilian star Ronaldo wishes to give in, wanted to sell their skin dearly.
From the 6th minute, a deflected strike from Ivan Sanchez Aguayo has Lobé Ter Stegen and the defensive block of a club that has not won since January 11 against Betis (1-0) and has chained since 13 defeats and a draw posed huge problems to the Barcelona attackers.
“When we make nine changes in the team, it’s not easy for players,” admitted Flick at the Dazn microphone, who said he was “in the end satisfied with the three additional points”.
A strike from Ansu Fati certainly forced the goalkeeper Andre Ferreira to a spectacular parade but the Barcelona assessment was lean.
Lamine Yamal entered the 38th minute after Daniel Rodriguez’s injury to restore a little to his teammates, but it was the entries after the Raphinha and Jong Frenkie break that reversed the trend by annihilating the hopes of the “pucelanos” to sign an authentic feat.
Even in difficulty, the Barcelonais continue their quest for a historic quadruple, the Liga and the Champions League which can be added to the King’s Cup and the Spanish Super Cup already won.
Dar/FBX
