Barca vs. Real Valladolid….two historic clubs that have everything to play for.
Valladolid, to keep their status as a La Liga club alive throughout the next season at least. Barca…..what do they have to play for again. Well, if you count pride, no one would be mad at you.
Let’s see how the action went down.
First half
Long story short, Barca completely looked uninspired and uninterested in competing heavily against a very eager Valladolid side.
Defensive lapses, bad mistakes in the midfield/defense, not a lot of creativity and progression in the attack, there was simply not enough passion and fire from Barca in any of those areas in the first half. Which led to them getting blitzed early on while failing fight back in any shape or form.
The first of two goals allowed by Barca in the first half was a pretty unfortunate one, as a Valladolid cross rang off the head of Andreas Christensen and somehow past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, into the back of the net.
Unlucky start for sure, but at least Barca had time to reverse the curse that had plagued them early.
But as we saw over the course of the half, it appeared like Barca just didn’t have the necessary level of focus to get things going on their end. They lgave up another goal just after the 20 minute mark, courtesy of a penalty awarded due to a curiously bad challenge by Eric Garcia.
By that point, anyone watching at home probably didn’t have the motivation to continue watching, and for good reason. Barca looked like they were ready to head home, and with the league already won, you can hardly blame them.
However, despite the mostly down play, there were some good moments. Mostly by way of one bright youngster that has been on the minds of many this year.
Pablo Torre provides lone bright spot
The only blip of positivity in the first half, came from none other than Pablo Torre, who finally received his much anticipated first ever start in La Liga. He was elegant on the ball, was daring enough to be creative when the rest of the Barca attack seemed to not have it, and by all means his delivery and the way he carried himself was pretty good as well.
He turned the ball over a few times, but he made up for it with some pretty passing, including one stellar ball to Raphinha that allowed the Brazilian to at least get a shot out of the action.
Aside from Torre though, the first half was pretty boring from a fan perspective. The second half had the chance to give us something a little better, but at the end of the day, it didn’t.
Second half
The second half went by in a blur.
During the fast paced action, Valladolid scored their third of the match after blistering by Barca’s defense with a special counter attack of their own. It was initially ruled out for offside, but after VAR intervened, it was shown that Marcos Alonso and Eric Garcia — mostly Garcia — played the initial action on by keeping a Valladolid attacker onside.
Surely not the best moment for Garcia, who once again just didn’t look all that impressive, even as a defensive midfielder.
It wasn’t all bad in the second half for Barca though, as Robert Lewandowski pulled a few tricks out of his sleeve to get one back for Barca. First it was the run past the Valladolid defense, then it was the proper control to skip the keeper, and finally the skill to keep his composure and put out a calm finish from a tight angle.
A pretty goal if I say so myself.
After this goal, the match quickly met its end, with Barca losing 3-1.
There’s not much to be upset with, rather there’s some disappointment with certain players. All in all though, it’s another match completed, as the end of the league season finally draws to a close.
Final word
There wasn’t much to be excited about with this match in all honesty.
The league is won, there’s nothing else left to play for, all the players have to look forward to is the end of the season when vacations can finally begin. There is however some disappointment with some players, some who had their chance to convince Xavi of their reason to stay at the club next season.
Eric Garcia is one of them, who had a below average match tonight. As well as Ansu Fati, who couldn’t even get a start today against the lowly Valladolid. Other than that, there’s nothing much to conclude.
Barca’s next match
Barca’s next match will be on Saturday against Mallorca. It’ll be the last match at the Camp Nou without any seating restrictions for a very long time, as the club is set to begin construction on the new Camp Nou.
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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