The bet is big, even risky for the club's delicate economy, and for the moment, after the first serious pre-season test in the Las Vegas classic against Real Madrid, Barça's signings are responding. Robert Lewandowski made his Barça debut with an appetizer of how much he can contribute. Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen left good feelings again. And Raphinha's winning goal, a shell from outside the area that slipped through the top corner, made its high price, 65 million between fixed and variable, be forgotten for a moment.
“We are making an effort. We are forming a great team, but it has to be shown. We want to make Barça great again. The sensations are positive, ”said the Blaugrana coach, Xavi Hernández, who now has a guaranteed squad with almost all the positions doubled, one of his demands. “The new players have understood each other,” he added, in addition to launching a warning: “Everyone starts from scratch. Names are not worth it here, results are worth it”.
The one from Terrassa defined Lewandowski as "a world star", although he specifically highlighted his "humility" and his "very rapid adaptation" in a few days. The Golden Boot, starter at the Allegiant Stadium and substituted at halftime, could not show off his best virtue, the goal, but his numbers during his career support him. His mobility and his two attempts on Courtois' goal predict a leap in quality in a forward that suffered from a lack of punch last season, especially before the signing of Aubameyang in winter. The average of 40 goals that was lost with the departure of Messi could return with the Pole, or at least that is what his previous records predict. “I am very excited to be on this team. I don't feel like I've only been in this club for a few days, I feel like I've been here longer. The team has supported me a lot and so it is easy to adapt, ”said the 33-year-old from Warsaw, who in the city of sin left the spotlight to Raphinha. “He is capable of making a difference, he is very dynamic”, highlighted Xavi of the Porto Alegre player, 25, who in the first half against Madrid played on the far right and in the second on the left until he left the field in the minute 62.
The Brazilian, with two goals and two assists in his two games with Barça, will create competition on the wing, especially with the re-signed Dembélé. "That way we'll all wake up a bit," warned the Egarense coach about the arrival of Raphinha and Lewandowski, theoretically starters.
Instead, both Kessie, 25, and Christensen, 26, start as substitutes, although both are performing at a good level. The Danish center-back, starting against Madrid, was once again solvent with the ball, with the ability to divide and start the game. Against Inter Miami, he hardly broke a sweat against an ineffective attack and against the Whites he was solid in the few rival attacks in the first half, one of them cut forcefully to stop a counterattack from Hazard that earned him a yellow card. After the restart, Kessie came out. The Ivorian interior, almost always vertical, pressed up, went down to defend and stepped on the opposite area. He left a goal on a plate for Dembélé and Courtois prevented him from scoring his first Barça goal. “We will try to strengthen all positions. We're working on that, but at the moment there's nothing”, concluded Xavi, who yearns for the signings of full-backs Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso and especially for the central defender Koundé to complete the squad.
