A kick in the ass solved Barça's innumerable problems in Balaídos and many of those that were looming in the League. Beltrán, Celta's industrious midfielder, mistook the ball for Lamine Yamal's butt and kicked hard where he shouldn't have, a senseless decision that corresponded with the absurd match between the two teams. It happened at the last minute and was not the last act of the comedy. Guaita stopped Lewandowski's shot and, for a moment, the storm of toads and snakes about to unload on the Polish striker and the rest of the team was announced. 600 kilometers away, in Las Rozas (Madrid), paradinhas later, Lewandowski scored the winning goal.
The players' celebration explained the significance of the goal. Hugs, excitement, adrenaline rushes… the ingredients for a won final. Or a drama avoided. The landscape in Vigo became clearer for Barça, not the one of great horizons that its people dream of, but the one of the small garden in front of it: finishing the championship in the top four, qualifying for the next Champions League and facing this week to Naples with something better looking.
Apart from the relief that the result produces, nothing that happened in Vigo alters the perception prior to the match. Nor does it change the opinion about Celta, who will once again go through the ordeal of recent years. On the way to 37 years old, Iago Aspas is the best on the team by far. It is very easy to imagine where Celta would be without their veteran striker. Just in case, Iago Aspas scored his usual goal against Barça, with the involuntary collaboration of Koundé, who is in almost all of the team's bad spots.
Xavi once again turned to Christensen to support the midfield, a decision that would make no sense in a potable Barça. Not even now, in this sad and miserable Barça. Christensen is an honest footballer, nothing more. Attributing a therapeutic effect to it is part of the fictions that govern the current narrative of the club and the team. Vitor Roque was also among the starters. He didn't leave the slightest trace, except a worrying insistence on losing control of the ball. He returned to the starting box.
Barça conceded very few chances to Celta, contrary to the terrible trend of recent games. It could be considered the most positive note of the match, extremely ugly, except for Lewandowski's shot in the first goal. It was a move by Bayern's Lewandowski: simple, fast and deadly. He also indicated that the dizzying deterioration that turns a great footballer into a wandering shadow has not yet reached him.
Lewandowski receives fierce criticism today. He is among those frequently mentioned when responsibilities for the team's disappointing record are settled. There is no doubt about his regression, but another of Barça's fictions consisted of thinking that the years were not going to pass by Lewandowski. He is 35, which is not few in football. He played a decisive role in his first season, both in the field of marketing and in scoring goals. Lewandowski gave a touch of commercial credibility to a club without money and without Messi. As for his performance, he was more than acceptable: top scorer in the League and champion with Barça.
The Polish striker always needed an intelligent and strong environment to produce goals. In this weak Barça and at his age, Lewandowski takes advantage of what he can and how he can. He has scored 12 goals in the championship and will probably finish with more than 20. It is illusory to think of the previous plethora of forwards, but Lewandowski is not dragging his feet. He works and serves.
