Leo Messi held the record of being the last player to score from a direct free kick with four different teams: the Argentine national team, Inter Miami, PSG and Barcelona. Not anymore. Because after more than two years without being able to celebrate a free kick goal, Barcelona fans were finally able to celebrate one. Against Betis, Ferran Torres ended a drought that had lasted too long.
It seemed like a sentence. The days were almost written down on the wall five by five. Months passed, up to 28 leaves from three different years were torn off. And there was no way. As if it were a curse, a kind of prophecy from Béla Guttman, a dark magic. Since Messi beat Cillessen at Mestalla. It was May 2, 2021. Football was still played behind closed doors, due to the effect of the pandemic.
The Argentine ten had a glove on his left boot and it was one more resource to break up the games but suddenly, without it, it was night for Barça. He stopped hitting shots, threatening and even causing dangerous fouls on the edge of the area. He forgot.
Memphis, Ansu Fati, Pedri, Dembélé, Coutinho… had tried it, the players with the best footing who have passed through Can Barça in this time. All water. Evidently Lewandowski, Raphinha and Gündogan also tried their luck, footballers who arrived with stripes. And nothing. Even defenders like Piqué, Jordi Alba and Marcos Alonso dared to hit the goal directly. Unsuccessfully.
Until Ferran Torres appeared. If he. That he had not yet started this course. That he didn’t even play in Getafe. That he had been teased. But in his attempt to reinvent himself, the Valencian striker has discovered that he is a good specialist in taking free kicks. At 23 years old, it turns out that he has pulled out a new weapon from his sleeve. Never in his professional career had he scored from a direct free kick.
And he did it 867 days after Messi and with pressure, since the changes in the band were already prepared. It was surely (it was) the last ball he was going to touch… And he placed it, with a great thread, outside the barrier and without much height, which surprised Fran Vieites, who was making his debut in goal after the injury by Rui Silva. “My idea was to put it over the barrier. It went a little wrong for me, but luckily it went in the right direction. Sometimes you accidentally mess it up,” Ferran Torres admitted with a laugh after the game.
“It’s the head, everything is the head,” he shouted in celebration, pointing to his temple. A change of mentality that Xavi also applauds. “It has much merit. I’ve already told you. They have practically laughed at him, they said that he was no good… and look what he has done. He has turned the tables all by himself. It’s an example. He has great mental strength. He is going to be important because he has earned it,” highlights the coach.
Ferran Torres was already the top scorer in the preseason and has three goals in five games. He feels free. There is a new sniper in Montjuïc.
