Barcelona suffered a shipwreck in Almeria and reopens the League

Barcelona went down in Almería this Sunday in a game in which the Catalans were never comfortable and in which they barely disturbed Fernando’s goal. El Bilal’s goal in the first half punished the leaders of the championship who squandered the opportunity to increase the gap in the League and after two consecutive defeats on Thursday at the Bernabéu they arrive at the classic cup winner.

With one eye on Old Trafford and the other on the Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid. This is how Barcelona went to the match against Almeria. Xavi organized an eleven in which he rested starting theorists such as Araujo, Koundé, Balde or Raphinha and it turned into the wrong message for a team that started at half throttle. The Culés could not match the intensity in the opening moments of the Almeria side who won the midfield battle thanks to Rubio’s surprise 4-4-2 and early pressure that stifled Christensen, Eric García and co. The Andalusians won all duels, and in one, Luis Suárez and El Bilal teamed up in a hand move behind the central defenders for the Malian forward to shoot Ter Stegen to his heart’s content, opening the scoring and punishing the Blaugrana’s bad start.

The home goal did justice to a first half in which Barcelona was clouded and lacked its usual fluidity in ball circulation. Even after El Bilal’s goal, it was not possible to see the best edition of the team that could not set up an opponent in the opposite field, find passes that managed to overcome the lines and gain an advantage so that Ferran Torres or Jordi Alba could spill over from the goal. sides . The Catalans were thick and went into the break with bad feelings and without a single shot between the sticks unfortunately for Xavi, who shook his head at the opportunity his team squandered to give Liga a new lease of life.

Unsuccessful turn

After the restart, the Barcelona coach wanted to give a twist to the game. His 4-4-2 formation dominated the first half before Rubio’s tactical response and his team needed solutions to clear Almeria’s trap. The Catalan coach’s bet was to bring Raphinha on the right instead of Kessié and change the band to Ferran Torres. The changes, which turned the system towards 4-3-3, suited a side facing a completely different game. The Culés were now able to widen the field of play and push the opposition in their own area, but they faced a team that backed off and lived in just a few meters with the goal of enduring a second half that promised to be a siege without a quarter of the Culés.

This new scenario was another stumbling block for the Catalans, who still haven’t found inspiration in their rivals’ command. Almería, who also had a plan B, abandoned their flanks and this degenerated into an endless series of flanking centers running into the home defense again and again, except for the two occasions when Raphinh surprised. In the first, he finished the goal, and in the second, he did not reach Ferran Torres’ measured ball. After 70 minutes, Barça still hadn’t tested Fernando and that prompted Xavi to bet that he would put whatever meat he had left on the grill. Three defense with Araujo and Marcos Alonso in the field, with four midfielders and Alarcón following Lewandowski in the zone. Barcelona then blew the horn, but it was too late. Alarcón and Araujo each had a chance in the last part, but they did not prevent the debacle of Barca, who after two consecutive defeats in just four days will reach the Cup classic in full trouble, and the advantage in the League against Real Madrid reduced to seven points.

Technical document:

Almeria: Fernando, Chumi, Rodrigo Ely, Babić, Akeme, Eguaras (Pozo, min. 83), De la Hoz, Robertone (Embarba, min. 76), Baptistao (Costa, min. 83), El Bilal (Kaiky, min. 89 ) ) and Luis Suárez (Ramazan, min. 78).

Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto (Alarcón, min. 77), Eric García (Araujo, min. 67), Christensen, Jordi Alba (Marcos Alonso, min. 67), Busquets (Pablo Torre, min. 79), De Jong, Kessié (Raphinha, min. 46), Ferran Torres, Lewandowski and Gavi.

Goal: 1-0: min. 24, ElBilal.

Referee: Ortiz Arias (Madrid). Yellow cards Eric García, Robertone, Xavi Hernández, Chumi, Raphinha, Gavi and Fernando.

Incidents: Matchday 23 of the League, played at the Power Horse Stadium in front of a crowd of 15,279 Get away from Barça in their battle for the League title.