“The Catalan team has won from Balaidos only in two of the last ten seasons.”, — write: football.ua
The Catalan team has won from Balaidos only in two of the last ten seasons.
Celta – Barcelona, Getty images November 23, 2024, 11:59 p.m
However, if we evaluate the performances of the teams in the first part of the season, then the “Blaugranas” are not expected to have equal opponents at all, while the “Celts” seem to have broken away from the usual pattern of the relegation zone for them in recent seasons, but they are clearly in no hurry to jump above the equator of the tournament table. The key to the points won by Claudio Heraldez’s team was definitely not the matches against clear favorites.
However, what cannot be taken away from Celta this season is the desire to play bright attacking football. What it is – Barca found out quite quickly this evening, because the hosts did not feel any obstacles at all before creating more and more scoring opportunities in front of other people’s goals in the first half. And how Flick’s team managed not to concede in the first half is a separate story altogether.
The visitors’ left-back Martin had a very poor half-time performance, and it was his potential dismissal that turned into more of a one-act play by the experienced Iago Aspas that ended the first half of this game. And the reason for the referee was to remove the Barcelona player – a meaningless tackle on the left flank of the attack against the opponent, when the situation did not require it at all.
However, the Catalans didn’t sit back in defense either, and it was their effective attack on 15 minutes that saw us see the goals in this fiery first half. Rafinha then received a throw-in from his own half by Kunde, while the Blaugrana’s student Minges completely failed to choose a position, after which the Brazilian beat the goalkeeper already in the penalty area. A classic attack by Barca, and there were many of them before the break, but there were much more moments when the visitors’ high defensive line clearly did not play in their favor.
In the second half, the Galician team continued to harass their opponents with quick attacks, but in the 61st minute, Barcelona scored for the second time when Lewandowski took two touches to outrun a couple of defenders in the center of the penalty area and push the ball past the goalkeeper from Rafinha’s cross.
And everything in this game should have ended on this episode, or at least on the one where Rafinha hit the left post in the 77th minute. But no – the players of Flick’s team invented their own adventures on a level ground. First, Casado collected two bookings in the space of eight minutes, and moments after his dismissal, Kunde simply left the ball in the center of the penalty area for Alfonso Gonzalez to fire past Peña, who was just as clueless as the crowd.
And since it was a match at Balaidos with the participation of Celta, no one was surprised that another wave of attack by the home team simply destroyed the defense of Barcelona in the next attack, and after Alvarez’s strike, the score became a draw again. There, the third could have flown in after a heel kick from Iglesias, but that would be a bit unfair, considering the contribution of the guests’ attack in this match. Whereas the defender received at least as much as he worked for.
Celta travel to Espanyol in the next round, while Barcelona host Brest of France in the UEFA Champions League in midweek before playing at home to Las Palmas.
Celta — Barcelona 2:2
Goals: Gonzalez, 84, Alvarez, 86 — Rafinha, 15, Lewandowski, 61
Celta: Guaita — H. Rodriguez, Starfelt, Alonso — Mingesa, Beltran (Sotelo, 76), Moriba, Alvarez — Aspas (Duran, 90), Duvicas (Iglesias, 76), Bamba (Gonzalez, 63).
Barcelona: Peña – Kunde, Kubarsi, Martinez, Martin (Forte, 46) – Gavi (Fermin, 75), Casado – Rafinha, Pedri (De Jong, 75), Olmo (Torre, 89) – Lewandowski (Victor, 89).
Warning: Aspas, Kh. Rodriguez, Sotelo, Moriba, Alonso — Martin, Casado, Fermin
Marc Casado (Barcelona) was sent off in the 82nd minute (second caution).