The new backbone of Barcelona

The Camp Nou gave three standing ovations during the Barça-Villarreal match on Thursday night.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
21 October 2022 Friday 22:30
8 Reads
The new backbone of Barcelona

The Camp Nou gave three standing ovations during the Barça-Villarreal match on Thursday night. Nor is it by chance that Xavi, who has the matches against Athletic, Bayern and Valencia ahead of him in ten days, decided to give those three breaks in the second half. Decibels rose with applause as De Jong, Lewandowski and Koundé walked off the pitch. The Egarense wanted to protect three of his pillars, converted into the new backbone of the team.

Barcelona was in need of new leadership on the field, orphaned since the departure of Messi, a footballer around whom the Barcelona game gravitated for more than a decade. Xavi has found them after 50 games on the bench.

A center back, a midfielder and a center forward. Due to their positions, they are basic pieces for the development of the game: origin, middle and end. They cross the entire field, from goal to goal. Like the spinal column in the body, which supports the head and supports the pelvis, they give stability to the eleven and the project.

Koundé, De Jong and Lewandowski are the illusion of reconstruction. Two are new, signings for which 95 million have been paid. The third is a footballer who is in his fourth season with the Blaugrana but now he is starting to play in his ideal position. All three are structural. They have to be important and that the ball goes through them. You have to look for them, for their ability to influence and unbalance the games.

They are not the product of La Masia like Xavi, Iniesta and Messi, owners of four of the club's five Champions Leagues, but Central Europeans who grew up impressed by the Blaugrana reign between 2009 and 2015.

By age, the French and the Dutch are in their moment of maturity and hunger. Koundé, who turns 24 in three weeks, only has one Europa League with Sevilla. De Jong's track record (25) is a little longer with an Eredevisie and a cup with Ajax and the Copa del Rey 20-21. Instead, Lewandowski, who won everything with Bayern, the Bundesliga was too small for him at 34 years old.

Until he reappeared in the classic, Jules Koundé had played more as a winger than a center back. Only against Viktoria did he occupy the axis. Two games have been enough for him to show that he provides a hierarchy and security that were missing. The former Sevilla player is strong in jumps and crashes but also very reliable with the ball at his feet. At the Bernabeu he had 93% of good passes with balls in the opposite field and against the groguets he raised it to 98%. The Frenchman arrives with a confidence that is key to being the boss of a defense where Piqué used to rule.

Finally Frenkie de Jong plays in his place. He is not a positional footballer but he is a born organizer who likes to play up front and imbues the team with rhythm, mobility, ability to surprise but also control and conservation of possession. Against Villarreal he only failed four passes, for seven at the Bernabeu. He has learned from Busquets for three seasons (more than expected when he arrived from Ajax) but has earned continuity behind Pedri and Gavi.

For his part, Robert Lewandowski is half Barça in attack. Literal. He has 16 of the team's 32 goals. His impact has been immediate, with five braces and a hat-trick in just over two months of competition. He sometimes remembers Romário on a tile, other times he shoots with the virulence of Luis Suárez and in Mallorca his power recalled Ronaldo. The important thing is that he intimidates, which has allowed him to start five games and draw twice against Inter. Next to him Ansu Fati must grow, protected in the beginning by Messi. The three leaders must speak on the pitch but also off it. People start following them.