Hanging from the crossbar. Asking for the time as if there was no tomorrow. With ten more than half an hour due to the expulsion of Araújo. With another agonizing exercise in survival. With much more work than talent. And with a penalty not indicated in favor of Valencia. But victory at the end of the day for a Barça subscriber to 1-0 as their mark of the season. A victory that came with a solitary goal from Raphinha and that was certified thanks to the blaugrana defensive block against an opponent that is in the relegation zone because it looks very bad. Barcelona was able to save suffering but a denied Ferran Torres missed a maximum penalty. Be that as it may, Xavi's team consolidates its leadership while waiting for the commitments in San Mamés and against Madrid.
With four starters absent and with the coach in the stands due to suspension, Barça appeared in a familiar and packed Camp Nou (what a joy to play in the afternoon) with the will to recover the pulse in the League after assaulting the Bernabéu in a survival exercise . It was time to row again in the championship against an anguished Valencia and Xavi determined three novelties in the eleven. Christensen appeared for Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto for Gavi and Ansu Fati for Kessié. In other words, Barcelona resumed the formula of the three forwards with the intention of attacking more and better than in Madrid.
But of course, at the present time, the losses of footballers like Pedri or Gavi, rockrose and team line weigh heavily. Without them and without a classic nine like Lewandowski, Barça needed to wait for their moment and do their homework judiciously. However, the staging would not be like a Disney movie, and it almost ended up in a haunted house. Valencia, enthusiastic, entered the game with an offensive will and Lino sought to tickle Koundé. The Frenchman feels much more comfortable as a center back than as a winger but it is what it is and he has to handle himself as well as he can.
Fortunately for the Barcelona fans, the team holed up first. It was with an excellent pass filtered by Busquets to the heart of the area. Over there, Raphinha jumped to stretch her neck and open the scoring with a header that overcame the bad start of the Valencian goalkeeper. A healing goal. A necessary goal. A goal that gave verve to the blaugrana.
The goal calmed them at times and for a little while, the only one, Barça combined well, fluently, from one side to the other and with two main protagonists. One, Raphinha, more in tune than in other meetings. The other, Balde, powerful as a buffalo when it comes to breaking through his band. In one of his tremendous drives, he assisted Raphinha to finish off the cross.
But Barcelona still lacked skill and continuity. Neither Ansu Fati, lying on the left and who did not shine, nor Ferran Torres, like nine, were a paragon of virtues neither in the overflow nor in the definition. Torres tried it from afar but found Mamardashvili's response and Barça, little by little, thickened until the break. He did not suffer excessively behind, it is true, but always at the risk of making a fatal mistake. Like that of Ferran Torres with a terrible transfer to Ter Stegen, which he controlled well but later had a bad time. Luckily Lino's shot went wide, while Araújo, again a fence, was angry.
At this point and with its limitations, Barça had to dedicate itself to consolidating the victory outside with one more point of spark or only with a pick and shovel. At the restart Xavi, assisted by his brother from the technical area, ordered the change of Kessié for a Frenkie de Jong in the red in terms of fatigue. The power team won. He lost soccer. Even so, Barça was close to sentencing after a clear penalty by Guillamón. Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati discussed launching it. In the end, the Valencian took control of the ball... and threw it away. What was missing. A sector of the stands hissed, another supported. The public was still having that debate when Fati shot at the post and received the encouragement of the stands. But the afternoon continued to go wrong, with more than half an hour to play, when Koundé committed Araújo and the Uruguayan tackled Hugo Duro. Red for the Uruguayan and to tremble.
From possible 2-0 to being in inferiority. The Blaugrana bench reacted by resorting to Marcos Alonso for Ansu Fati. Valencia saw the option and put Castillejo and Fran Pérez, Rufete's son, two attackers in the fray. Barça, to defend the Bernabéu style against the penultimate, and for the minutes to pass while Baraja accumulated forwards, with the entry of Kluivert. The blaugrana response, put in Eric Garcia and advance to Balde. But Barcelona hardly left the area and Kessié committed a penalty on Fran Pérez. Surprisingly, neither the referee nor the VAR considered it that way, to the anger of the Valencian team. But the marker no longer moved and the respectable went home more relieved than anything else.
