Xavi Hernández's Barça loosens ballast and gains height. In his current starting lineup there is hardly room for players who were everything. Only Sergio Busquets, a close friend of the coach, resists regeneration with solvency. In the margins survive in different ways Sergi Roberto, substitute valued for his versatility; Jordi Alba, third winger behind Marcos Alonso and the emerging Balde; and Gerard Piqué, who has gone from irreplaceable kaiser to invisible central defender. Ter Stegen, who was never part of the hard core of the old guard, read the play ahead of time and has spent the summer working through his bad knee to get back. And he has returned. It benefits him that they have not signed him competition.
After his forced landing last season, Xavi now has padded walls to carry out his plan. The coverage of the board and the technical direction is evident. They have given him a wide berth to do and undo and, on their own, they have even done some underground work to leave the captains in a bad place: they have not lowered their salaries even one euro, that has been the underlying message that has survived the summer. They are the bad guys in the movie. Populism tends to win by a landslide in football.
In fact, the changing of the guard has been crying out for seasons. It was taken for granted three years ago (May 2019) after the 4-0 at Anfield that expelled the Catalans from the Champions League. Josep Maria Bartomeu, tamed by savvy stars, was stopped at the last minute when he was about to execute him. His dubious record as a bookkeeper did not guarantee success either. The slowdown of that sung goodbye was counterproductive for those who promoted it, cruelly engulfed by the passage of time.
Today there is no room for them. The defensive line that faced Valladolid and Sevilla, made up of Koundé (23 years old), Araújo (23), Eric Garcia (21) and Balde (18) shows an average age of 21.2 years. Alba, 33, plays for a while in second parts, and Piqué, 35, remains unpublished without debuting.
Coping with this type of situation is very difficult for those affected but also for the coach. Veteran sources from the Barça dressing room still confess today that what exhausted coaches like Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique or Ernesto Valverde was never tactics but coexistence with depending on what egos. Those of Alba and Piqué, like those of so many others, have their one. But Xavi has the wind in his favour.
Alba's substitution hardly anyone mourns. The winger's trajectory would deserve more recognition, but his charisma, which we could call 'inverse', makes things difficult for him. In the locker room he has lost grip. Without Messi, his main ally for years on the wing, he has been left out in the open, without a protective umbrella and without a shoulder to lean on. Among the fans there were never many dedicated fans. Probably because of his character. Alba has reason to growl. He is playing for a place in the Qatar World Cup (there are barely two months left for the appointment) and he felt terrible that the club, without his consent, offered him to Inter Milan.
Gerard Piqué, for his part, is going through one of the worst sporting moments of his career. The matter is combined with his personal situation since his separation from Shakira was announced. Harassed by the paparazzi off the field, inside he promised to make it difficult for Xavi when he told him about the year that awaited him, but the truth is that he is the fifth central defender when he had been the first for a decade. The fans idolize him but his ownership has been naturally assimilated by Barcelona fans. Piqué remains, they say, quiet behind closed doors, an adjective that hits him little.
Both the central and Alba are in a position of weakness. Like never before. They have no choice but to suck.
