Around, Barcelona found the ball again and offered a very good football monologue against the resistant and finally dejected Brest. The Blaugrana recovered the competitive tension lost in the last games and only lacked the usual aim to secure an even more generous victory on their return to Montjuïc and the Champions League. Barça needed to win because the team is as ambitious as it is tender and can easily be ruined by the score being against and by the Cainite tendency of a club that now has to deal with the cheering stands, closed “sine die” for failing to comply with its obligations. contracted with Barcelona itself.
3
Iñaki Peña, Iñigo Martínez, Pau Cubarsí, Jules Koundé, Gerard Martín (Alejandro Balde, min. 77), Fermín López (Pablo Torre, min. 77), Dani Olmo (Gavi, min. 67), Raphinha, Pedri (Frenkie de Jong, min. 87), Marc Casado and Robert Lewandowski.
0
Marco Bizot, Julien Le Cardinal, Massadio Haïdara, Kenny Lala, Brendan Chardonnet, Mahdi Camara (Romain Faivre, min. 68), Edimilson Fernandes (Jonas Martin, min. 77), Hugo Magnetti, Kamory Doumbia (Mathias Pereira Lage, min. 69), Ludovic Ajorque (Romain Del Castillo, min. 77) and Abdallah Sima (Mama Baldé, min. 58)
Goals
1-0 min. 9: Lewandowski. 2-0 min. 65: Dani Olmo. 3-0 min. 91: Lewandowski
Referee Irfan Fear
yellow cards
Lala (min. 23), Mahdi Camara (min. 62), Ludovic Ajorque (min. 73), Julien Le Cardinal (min. 80)
The Blaugrana connected in tune with Flick’s harangue. The team was once again recognizable for its pressure and ambition after a drop in game volume and tension. They acted as a unit, concentrated and intense, precise when shooting the line out of play and relentlessly focused towards the frame from until yesterday undefeated Brest. Lamine Yamal was not missed for a day while Lewandowski continues to expand his scoring tally: there are already 101 goals in the Champions League after the two scored against Brest.
Although he only touched two players, Flick surprised with the lineup: Fermín replaced Gavi after making his first start in the League and kept Gerard Martín, the most notable footballer in Vigo. The full-backs are one of the weak points of the squad and it is assumed that the coach does not want to lose pieces in the absence of the fragile Balde. It also does not have many alternatives to replace Lamine. The game loses imbalance without the winger, replaced positionally by Fermín, and therefore requires greater activation from Olmo, who recovered his natural position as an offensive midfielder while Pedri happily teamed up with Casadó.
The Barça’s luck was at the feet of the association formed by the skill of the sharp Olmo and the clairvoyance of the calm Pedri. Much less sophisticated is Brest, a more basic and very physical team, always competitive, even without its Lees-Melou figure. The French opened the field and attacked from the sides with the reference of Ajorque. The match began balanced until Bizot very soon controlled a pass from Pedri with his chest. The Pole converted the penalty awarded by the goalkeeper and scored his 100th goal in the Champions League. The attack worked better than the defense in a more vulnerable Barcelona block without the ball against the brave Brest.
The chances, however, began to occur little by little in the French area because the Blaugrana gained offensive fluidity with Raphinha, Koundé and Fermín, who failed to finish after going around the goalkeeper, heavily protected by a strong and fierce defense that did not concede the coup de grâce after being progressively subdued by the pace of Barça. The Catalans were once again a compact team that only lacked the precision to define in advantageous situations such as a Fermín header rejected by Bizot. Olmo was not fine, Fermín kept shooting without luck and Brest did not give in. The match became an exercise in perseverance and patience managed by the talent of Pedri. The French shrank their field and blocked the goal so effectively that they despaired and denied the Barcelona fans to the point that Raphinha’s shots did not reach the goal because they hit Lewandowski. The second goal took a long time to arrive and it was not exactly a collective outburst but a very fine play by Olmo, excellent in control, shooting, feint and definition, after receiving an exquisite ball served by Gerard Martín.
The changeover only served to applaud Pedri, more comfortable as a midfielder than as a forward, and to whistle at De Jong, right now the most lost footballer in Flick’s ideology. The roar of the Barça fans, reduced by the shouting of 2,700 Breton fans, calmed down to give way to the applause for the 3-0 score. The match ended in the same way it began, with a goal from Lewandowski, to crown a collective performance that showed that Flick’s Barça has memory: Barça was Barça again.
