Xavi Hernández during the match between Atlético de Madrid and Barcelona at the Metropolitano last Sunday JUAN MEDINA (Portal)
But the confusion over Barça’s victory at the Metropolitano, where they regained the lead on their own, deepened the doubts raised by the Champions League-eliminated team with minimal margin in the transfer market and on the horizon at Montjuïc Stadium – 40,000 spectators less than that Camp Nou and a tartan track to increase physical and emotional distance from the fans – next season.
For years there has been talk of transitions, transformations and revolutions at Barça, a symptom of the excesses committed in all areas. A club mess. In recent weeks, the term most used is reconversion, although it is difficult to specify the validity of the concept in a team now justified by its efficiency, with brief victories and few goals conceded: six, three of them against Real Madrid.
This Italianization, increasingly alien to football in Italy itself, is beginning to act as an alibi for the club, which is uneasy about the distance between what it preached – model, style, etc. – and what it is lives exercises It is not clear if, because the team does not want them, he can or only sometimes achieves, as in the Metropolitano, where he played well for 25 minutes, scored a goal that reminded us of the old days – Pedri crossed those line of defense with the Iniesta’s gentle flapping of wings – and he immediately gave up good handwriting for the doodle.
In the name of pragmatism, virtues are to be discovered at Barça that he does not have. Statistics make sense when there are no contradictions, in this case obvious ones. The same side that conceded six goals in the domestic championship have conceded ten in the four games they played against Inter and Bayern in the first half of the Champions League. In the cup game against Intercity – First Federation, third tier of Spanish football – Barça conceded three goals and needed extra time to qualify.
How do you explain the theory of defensive pragmatism in a team that suffers from serious inefficiencies in the same area? The most likely answer is that Barça are trying to achieve something they can’t – convincing with a Cartesian and fluid game – and dedicating themselves to agonizing defensive exercises in contrast to Xavi’s speech, which doesn’t translate what he wants in the everyday language of the team.
Although Araujo’s return is handy, Barça didn’t win at the Metropolitano due to the imperviousness of their defense, which was stuck in their area for much of the game and was too permissive. Atlético created above-average chances per game and demanded some phenomenal interventions from ter Stegen, alongside Araujo’s extremely quick defense from the goal-line in the midst of Simeone’s team’s attacking relief.
In many ways, despite the win and the lead, Barça aroused more suspicion than certainty in the metropolitan. The questions prevail, not solved with the economic effort involved in the new signings. So far, at least, Ferrán, Raphinha and Koundé (160m) are far from marking distances or very close to disappointing staff, Busquets will complete his Barça cycle in June, Frenkie de Jong’s bland performances abound – those of the Metropolitan were unlucky – and Lewandowski will turn 35 in 2023 without a convincing replacement.
Nothing explains his shortcomings better than associating him with a pragmatism that does not correspond to the reality of his game, the club’s football canon and the speech of Xavi, the expected keeper of essences unseen on the pitch.
Follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits