After an international break that involved zero injury mishaps (!!!), Barca returned to domestic action tonight to take on Las Palmas.
Barca wanted all 3 points to continue their unbeaten streak — which was up to 10 games prior to this match — and keep some pressure on current league leaders Real Madrid.
But it wasn’t going to come easy. Las Palmas has maintained their disciplined throughout the season, keeping their mid table position in La Liga after being promoted this past spring.
So, would Barca be able to take home 3 points against a well drilled Las Palmas side? Let’s find out.
First half
The first half for Barca ccould’ve been summed up in one, no, two words.
Wastefulness and ignorance.
Wastefulness because Barca was once again wasteful in front of goal. They had countless chances to take the lead, including a few chances from Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha themselves.
However, the end result always remained the same, with the goal failing to reach the back of the net. It was a frustrating time, especially since Barca looked to be on the verge of putting this match out of reach.
And even when it appeared they found a way to get past their finishing issues and put a ball into the back of the net, refereeing stood in their way like a boulder in the road.
That brings us to our next word, ignorance.
Ignorance relating to VAR and their otherworldly decision to somehow take away Barca’s should’ve been first goal of the match. In a baffling decision I still can’t understand, VAR deemed Raphinha offside after he scored the initial opening goal.
But what’s so baffling about the decision, is that the decision simply made zero sense.
If a player doesn’t interfere with the play while in an offsides position, any further action that shows he’s onside is deemed legal. That’s clearly what went on here, as Raphinha never even got involved with the action while he was offsides initially.
But somehow VAR thought otherwise and disallowed the goal.
Truly shocking decision.
Further explanation was given from someone who actually understands the rule that went into the decision, but it still doesn’t make much sense to me.
Oh well.
Aside from these two instances, there wasn’t much that went on in the first half, other than a straight red that was issues to Las Palmas keeper Alvaro Valle.
This coming after a reckless challenge on Raphinha.
Halftime arrived with the match deadlocked at 0-0, with Barca clearly in the drivers seat. Would they take advantage of the extra man and put Las Palmas away?
Second half
The second half was a bit less eventful, with Barca finding the game’s first goal, and Las Palmas putting on pressure late to make this one veryyy interesting.
We’ll start with the goal, as it was Raphinha who got his goal after his first one was taken away from him in the first half.
Raphinha opens the scoring
It was a simple goal really.
Point A to Point B football between Joao Felix and Raphinha, with the former pinging in a gorgeous pass from his central spot, finding the blazing Brazilian in open space.
All Raphinha had to do was simply finish it off and that he did, lofting a header into the back of the net.
On second looks, Raphinha’s header looked kind of close to hitting the bar, which was a bit nerve wracking.
But it goes in nonetheless.
To add on to the goal, Raphinha pulled out a cheeky VAR celebration, noting back to his disallowed goal in the first half. Fun stuff from the Brazilian.
After this goal though, there was some late pressure from Las Palmas during the dying moments of normal time. Alberto Moleiro had a shot whizz just wide after some lazy and uninspired defending from Barca.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was visibly upset after, questioning why Barca’s backline allowed such a dangerous chance to come to be. But he didn’t have much to worry about after that, as Barca found some semblance of control and killed the match off, ending it with a 1-0 victory.
However, questions remain, particularly with the team’s finishing. And with PSG being the next match on April 10th, those aren’t questions you want to have right now.
Final word
It was a good win, but Barca really should’ve killed this match off before the second half even began.
Countless opportunities, but they were mostly wasted, aside from a few. This team had issues with finishing earlier in the season and it’s a reason why they suffered so much results wise before the calendar year flipped to 2024.
You can only hope this isn’t a problem that’s going to pop up again, especially during UCL play against PSG. If it does pop up again, this team will be getting sent home.
In other news, Barca’s deficit to Madrid was trimmed to 5 points with the win. If Madrid lose to Athletic Club tomorrow night, the deficit with remain at 5, putting a potential title race back on the table.
Barca’s next match
Barca’s next match is on April 10th, as Barca take on PSG in the Champions League quarterfinals.
See you all then!
I’ve been a big time Barca fan since I was 14 years old. I love the club, the history, and the tradition that the club has built over its prestigious history. Forca Barca!
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