Barcelona left the social gathering early, their birthday additionally belonging to those that travelled the furthest to be there. There was music, candles and a cake, a piano, 5 presidents and Pep Guardiola singing on the display screen, or lip-syncing not less than, however by the point the membership’s a hundred and twenty fifth anniversary celebrations closed on the Liceu theatre on Friday evening there have been no first-team gamers. Just a little after half previous 9, two hours into their grand gala on the Ramblas, a determine appeared within the shadow of the aisle and gestured to depart, 30 males in gray fits silently slipping out to organize the ultimate act, the crowning efficiency: in 14 hours they’d a match to play.
There have been 1000’s of them since 1899 when Mr Kans Kamper [sic] put a 63-word labeled in Los Deportes asking if anybody wished to play foot-vall and 12 turned up. The day after the gala could be Barcelona’s 3,034th in La Liga alone, and the league hadn’t even began for one more 40 years after their basis; it was additionally purported to be particular, a finale for the festivities. Over 2,000 folks had been on the Liceu, amongst them former gamers, managers and loads of politicians, if not the mayor – he helps Espanyol – and on a sunny Saturday excessive above the town one other 43,921 had been coming to Montjuic to share the historical past, the second.
It didn’t work out how they hoped, though it may need ended the way in which some suspected. In a single a part of the town, particularly. At about the identical time as Barça’s gamers had sneaked out the Liceu, a mile away their opponents, not too long ago touched down at El Prat, had been eating on the eighth flooring of their lodge overlooking the port, an ideal plan coming collectively.
Las Palmas had come a good distance – it’s 2,173km from Gran Canaria – and had been acquainted company. The workforce who turned up for the primary sport broadcast in Catalan after the tip of the dictatorship; guests the evening Josep Taradellas, in exile since 1939, first went to the Camp Nou; opponents when Barcelona received their first Copa below the democracy, they’d been there the day of the October 2017 referendum too, Spain flags stitched into their shirts. They hadn’t received any of these; this time, on Barcelona’s a hundred and twenty fifth birthday, they did. It was their first victory at Barcelona since 1971, and the primary residence defeat for Hansi Flick’s workforce all season. On this of all days.
As one paper put it – as each paper put it, in reality – Las Palmas had poured water on the social gathering, which is not less than higher than pooping on it. Barcelona had suffered a hell of a hangover, stated the entrance web page of El Mundo Deportivo. “While you put together a fiesta, it tends to finish in a funeral,” reckoned AS; on their a hundredth birthday, Barcelona had been overwhelmed too, by Atlético Madrid. And so it was: they’d outdated shorts, white like the primary day, a brand new anthem and a brand new mascot, designed by Carlos Grangel, however no win. Cat, who’s a cat, bought the primary contact, taking the honorary kick-off. Two lengthy exhausting hours later, Fabio González, born in Gran Canaria, bought the final. Between these, targets from Sandro Ramírez and Fábio Silva had given Las Palmas a 2-1 lead and finally one other win.
That they had defended that lead tooth and nail till the ball fell at Fabio’s ft, the ultimate whistle went, and subs and workers in yellow and blue ran on to the pitch – people who may nonetheless run, anyway. “I damage in every single place however proper now I don’t damage in any respect,” the centre-back Álex Suárez stated afterwards. Barcelona’s captain Raphinha, in the meantime, simply sat on the turf, misplaced. One after the other, his opponents got here to assist him to his ft however he shrugged them off, staring into area, not fairly Lesley Gore however not thus far off. He had scored however, he stated later, he didn’t care. Requested to elucidate what had occurred, he replied: “There is no such thing as a clarification: we misplaced.” Why? “As a result of we performed badly.” One other change ran: are you offended? “Sure.”
Nicely, after all. Barcelona had taken 27 pictures and had hit the bar. Jasper Cillessen, who joked that he had bought the within monitor by watching Raphinha’s clips on Instagram, made an excellent cease from the Brazilian’s free-kick. There had been missed possibilities and missed tackles too. A penalty shout or two. And but this was no fluke, no freak consequence written off as luck and shortly to be forgotten, Iñigo Martínez admitting “we didn’t really feel proper; it was arduous for us to create, we misplaced the ball loads” and Flick including: “We haven’t had a very good match.” Worse, it was no one-off. As a substitute, this was the third consecutive league sport Barcelona had did not win, the benefit they constructed blown already.
Since they beat Actual Madrid 4-0 within the clásico, Barcelona have solely defeated Espanyol, 3-1 within the derby, and even that day Flick stated he wasn’t pleased, a three-goal first half giving strategy to a flat second. They then misplaced 1-0 to Actual Sociedad, drew 2-2 at Celta Vigo, and now this. Eight factors gone in three weeks. Whereas the coach famous that they’d key selections go in opposition to them in all three matches, he was not handing duty to the refs and it isn’t about absentees both, though the 4 video games that Barcelona have failed have been the 4 that Lamine Yamal has not began, and each Marc Casadó and Dani Olmo had been unable to play right here. The truth is, curiously, this run has occurred as gamers have returned, the squad now not fairly so quick.
“What are you doing badly?” Raphinha was requested. “Many issues,” he stated, making use of the complete cease. And if a few of it’s short-term – “We had a fantastic begin, now we have slowed a bit however I’ve little question we’ll come by this,” Martínez stated – proper now it is usually actual. Flick instructed that there was an absence of cohesion and insisted: “We now have to defend higher.” They need to assault higher too. Scoring the primary aim adjustments the whole lot, the coach stated, however Martínez admitted “we’re struggling to create”. In Lamine’s absence, one of many entrance three has tended to be turned inside, as an alternative of going for the throat. Robert Lewandowski appears to be like his age once more. The workforce that scored 5 in opposition to Villarreal and Sevilla, 4 in opposition to Girona and Madrid, 40 in 12 league video games, plus 4 in opposition to Bayern, has three in three. The area into which they ran, recognized now, is being closed; the area which they depart uncovered, in the meantime, is exploited higher.
The sting, the depth has gone from their sport, the press utilized a fraction late. The offside lure, which was all the time a way of life on the sting however appeared like genius, now appears to be like dangerous once more, the timing needing fine-tuning. Recognized now, it surprises much less and opponents’ actions are modified. Barcelona had caught the opposition offside 108 instances till this run, averaging nearly seven instances a sport. Kylian Mbappé fell into the lure eight instances alone, Madrid 12. Actual Sociedad, although, fell simply 3 times, Celta two. Las Palmas had been caught 5 instances on Saturday, however not solely did each targets come from invading the area behind Barcelona, two different clear possibilities had been labored the identical means.
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And labored is the phrase, Martínez saying the bit that too typically goes unsaid: that there’s one other workforce and they’re good, the facet who had not received in 23 video games racking up their fifth win in seven since Diego Martínez took over. A facet by which everybody contributes. You’d title their excellent gamers at Montjuïc, solely you would need to title all of them. That stated, a few of the definitions within the Canarian day by day La Provincia had been enjoyable and never far off: Álex Suárez, the Tarzan of Tamaraceite. Scott McKenna, the banana Braveheart. Silva, the Robin Hood of glory. Javi Muñoz, physician of physics and fury. Enzo Loiodice, the marquis of the Eiffel Tower.
“We knew Las Palmas may trigger us issues; they might have scored extra,” Martínez admitted. Watch the 2 targets once more and they’re fantastic, the ball taken from one finish to the opposite, not by blind hoof however by design, one swift contact at a time, Barcelona drawn in after which defeated, area opened and occupied. “It’s mechanised: we practised that each one week. We all know that they’ve a excessive line that works for them however it was good for us,” Mika Mármol stated. “We thought we may win, we actually believed it,” José Campaña stated, and so it was.
“The important thing was to not be small,” Alberto Moleiro stated; as an alternative, they had been as big as the trouble they’d made, the entrance of 1 Las Palmas paper declaring them “heroes”, one other calling this “the good apotheosis of the century”, the “mom of all feats”. Within the dressing room, music blared and gamers bounced about. Vicente Gómez, the previous midfielder who was born on the island, performed for them and works within the sporting directorate, was ready. “He advised me: ‘You don’t know what you’ve carried out,’” Suárez revealed. That is the seventy fifth 12 months since Membership Deportivo Gran Canaria, Actual Membership Victoria, Atletico Membership, Arenas Membership and Marino Membership de Futbol grew to become la Unión Deportiva, an anniversary of their very own: for the final 50 of them, they’d been unable to beat Barcelona. Now, although, they’d, extra historical past made and one other social gathering beginning.
Fast Information
La Liga outcomes
Present
Actual Sociedad 2-0 Actual Betis, Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Athletic Bilbao, Actual Madrid 2-0 Getafe, Villarreal 2-2 Girona, Valladolid 0-5 Atlético Madrid, Espanyol 3-1 Celta, Alavés 1-1 Leganés, Barcelona 1-2 Las Palmas, Mallorca 2-1 Valencia.
Monday: Sevilla v Osasuna.
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