2023-09-26 22:08:00
Sep 26, 2023, 6:08 p.m. ET
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Barcelona’s rebellion in Mallorca was not enough to round off a comeback that it sought but did not find and settled for a 2-2 draw.
Barcelona’s rebellion in Mallorca was not enough to round off a comeback that it sought but did not find. After a discreet and unfortunate first half, going into half-time trailing on the scoreboard, it took too long to accelerate to defeat a rival that never lost face. And he even had the chance to beat him at the end. Xavi parked Lewandowski, Koundé and Christensen; He could not count on the injured De Jong and the game clearly accused him of this, even though, due to football, chances and dominance, the Catalan team deserved to win.
At different moments of the match, the Blaugrana team looked helpless against Mallorca. AP
He dropped two points again like in Getafe but, unlike that soulless league debut, in Son Moix he collided with a superb Rajkovic in the first half and was punished for his unthinkable defensive errors, which cost him two ultimately decisive goals. In seven days Barça has conceded eight goals, the same number that took 25 games to concede last year. Hard to explain.
As difficult as understanding the songs of Ter Stegen, Oriol Romeu, Íñigo Martínez and even Ronald Araújo that cost him those two goals from Muriqi and Prats against which he could not do more. Under normal conditions it would not have been strange for Barça to go into half-time ahead. The local goalkeeper took an explosive shot from close range, to Ferran Torres first and a miraculous handball to Joao Félix later. And later he saw how Raphinha, author of the first tie, sent a free shot into the clouds that, probably, would have changed the scenario.
It was an exercise of wanting and not being able to from the champion throughout the first half that started badly and ended worse. If the difficulty of facing closed and defensive rivals was already hinted at, as Celta demonstrated (despite the final result), Mallorca confirmed it, with a good dose of fortune and the exceptional figure of Predrag Rajkovic, fundamental for the champion He went to the locker room at half-time with a look of not understanding anything.
Installed in happiness, almost euphoria, after linking three victories in Montjuïc, with two little hands and a miraculous comeback, in Son Moix that momentum was suddenly stopped and Barça recovered the ill-advised image that it showed 23 days ago in Pamplona, beating Osasuna (1-2) but suffering badly until the last breath.
Editorial Selections
Xavi already warned the day before that Mallorca was not going to be a comfortable rival. Even more so after being danced in Girona, where in the 88th minute he fell 5-1 and in whose locker room there were strong arguments between the Vasco Aguirre footballers. And if the Mexican coach warned that in these types of games the players “do not need special motivation”, his men demonstrated it, to the best of their ability and more, on the field of play.
The second half showed a new exercise of impotence from Xavi’s team. And bad luck when the post spit out a howitzer from Joao Félix. It was not until the entry of Lamine Yamal that the scenario changed, already converted into a relentless attack after the entry of Fermín, who would be the author of the tie, born, of course, from the electricity of his young teammate and the good sense of Raphinha, who got tired of losing balls but that didn’t stop him from trying again and again to lead an incredulous team.
Barça’s leadership may only last one day if Girona and/or Real Madrid solve their games against Villarreal and Las Palmas, but since that is anecdotal, it is not so anecdotal to understand the difficulty that a season will have in which the games are repeated and that Whether you like it or not, rotations sometimes end up taking their toll.
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