On the fast track and like an express train, Barça gobbled up Athletic. First he hit and then he controlled. First it overflowed and then it temporized. First he painted the picture and then he dedicated himself to admiring it. A resounding victory that allows him to keep behind Madrid and doubles his confidence by tying his second consecutive victory. A supreme Dembélé, Sergi Roberto, Lewandowski and Ferran Torres signed the goals to the delight of a Camp Nou once again packed with the public.
Because whether or not this Barça wins, it's a team that never gets boring. Because when it seems that you can no longer change things there is a new twist. Xavi has plenty of alchemy. The brain does not stop proposing variants and mixtures. As if he were a chemist, he takes the test tube and tests it. Sometimes he gets out of hand, like in Milan, but when he gets it right, the result is phenomenal. It happened on Thursday against Villarreal and it happened again against Athletic. Match resolved at halftime with another brilliant 3-0.
And with the grace and morbidity of doing it with four changes in the eleven and with new formulas to analyze by heart. Xavi is a mine for all football scholars, who are in droves. This time he brought Busquets back into the lineup, but not to the detriment of De Jong, but making them work as a pair alongside Gavi and Pedri. Four midfielders by profession, although the Canarian was listed as a false left winger, in the style of what Iniesta did in the past. Meanwhile, Eric Garcia returned to the rear axis, Balde to the left lane and Dembélé returned to the extreme right.
Did Barça suffer? No. On the contrary. He found a way to win the match in a heartbeat. After a few moments of trial and error, Barcelona studied Athletic's high pressure and prepared to overcome it with precision and also with determination. Two proper names in this field. That of the young Balde, a thunder for his band that stopped Nico Williams and projected himself with muscle and vitamin, and that of Dembélé.
French always deserves a separate chapter. It knows no half measures. He is a footballer that bullfighting would describe as "big door or infirmary". Against Athletic the match was put on by montera. In less than half an hour he had scored a goal and had provided another two. Dembélé opened the scoring by bursting into the area and heading a Lewandowski cross into the net. He did it by giving continuity to a play in which he had rehearsed the shot from outside the area, running into Unai Simón's save. The only one that the Athletic goalkeeper would do until the break.
Because if Barça was reliable in all aspects of the game, in the most decisive, the shot, it was heavenly. Four shots until intermission. All between sticks and three goals. After the first, the second soon arrived. Dembélé and Sergi Roberto formed a partnership for their band and the one from Reus finished off by stepping on the area. His shot grazed Iñigo Martínez and went past the Athletic goalkeeper.
Barça had taken a run and Dembélé, highway, the A-7, for his number. Over there he starred in another capital action to enable Lewandowski. The Pole turned on a tile and with his left nailed a great goal, a house brand. Athletic suffered an overflowing tidal wave and Valverde swore in Aramaic. Bad day to return to the Camp Nou. They didn't even name him over the loudspeaker. Perhaps he preferred it that way, always discreet. Although, given what was coming his way, Valverde was not up for tributes.
With the advantage safely secured, Barça dedicated themselves to placing the match in the rocking chair, a sweet doze that also made us remember other times. With Busquets and De Jong helping him almost like a double pivot, the Blaugrana team did not suffer. He only had to regret one scare, that of Gavi's injury after a tremendous attack by Dani García. Although it was under the referee's nose, no foul was called and Xavi, enraged, took a card for protesting. The youth squad had to withdraw with pain in the pubic area. The coach turned to Kessié.
Athletic tried to be proud but found a seamless Barça. There was no turning back in the game and Xavi activated the bench. Minutes for Marcos Alonso, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres. Rest for Lewandowski, Pedri and Koundé. Logical management. Just leaving both forwards enjoyed their opportunities while Dembélé and Sergi Roberto continued with their unlimited partnership. Too bad the Catalan ended up injured in the shoulder. Meanwhile, the Frenchman put the icing on the cake with another assist, this time for Ferran Torres, who materialized the fourth. Even Pablo Torre appeared. Barça returns to fuel.
