09/27/2020 - 18:43
Clarín.com
sports
The anxieties were accumulating in Catalonia.
Everyone was waiting to know what Ronald Koeman's Barcelona would look like.
This Barcelona half renovated in terms of names, but with visible changes from the game.
Everyone, too, wanted to know how Lionel Messi was going to play.
Finally, the day arrived.
The Barça team made their debut in the Spanish League with a great show against an apathetic Villarreal, with
Leo
as the center forward
and the fresh air of
Ansu Fati
as a lethal weapon.
An indisputable win by 4 to 0.
The Dutch coach decided not to place the renegade captain against the leadership of Josep María Bartomeu in the right sector of the attack.
There he put Antoine Griezmann.
And he stopped Rosario well from "9", as the
only reference in the rival area
.
Anchored between rival centrals,
La Pulga
lost in those initial minutes the prominence it used to have.
And he left the role to the
17-year-old
jewel
born in Guinea-Bissau, who on the left was
an uncontrollable lightning bolt
.
Barcelona vs Villarreal All Goals # BarçaVillarreal
pic.twitter.com/OCuRg5hqRK
- FTTV World (@ FTTV10) September 27, 2020
That Luis Suárez
broke it
with two goals and one assist in his debut at Atlético de Madrid?
Well, Ansu Fati was in charge of erasing the tears of nostalgia for the scorer who is no longer there and changed them for the smiles of hope with a
double
in less than 20 minutes.
How?
Occupying the space before
Jordi Alba's
back pass
-previous long delivery from the bottom- at 1 to 0 and ending a counterattack started by Lenglet's cut, Coutinho's leadership and Griezmann's intelligent movement to bring the defenders together and leave Ansu free on the left at 2-0.
Koeman's Barcelona presented their entry credentials just: a more direct game, skipping lines if necessary and without abusing possession with side passes.
And in this circuit, Messi had to break with his position of "9" and go down or move to the right to come into contact with the ball and be part of the production, which was born from the double command of the central circle: Busquets-De Jong .
17-year-old Ansu Fati was the great figure with two goals in Barcelona's triumph against Villarreal Photo: AP
Ahead of them, in a 4-2-3-1 scheme, Griezmann were positioned on the right, Coutinho behind Lionel and Ansu Fati down the left-handed alley.
And that's why the youth provoked the penalty for 3-0, converted by Messi.
The boy who debuted this month in the Spanish National Team was touched from behind.
The Argentine shouted his from the 12 steps and generated the fourth, in one of those moments when he was delayed: he threw the center and Pau Torres involuntarily put it on his fence.
Already in the second half, he had a deactivated by the goalkeeper when he finished off with his left foot crossed from the right, his usual position.
When
Leo
left his place stipulated by the brand new DT, someone automatically filled the gap.
It could be Griezmann, Coutinho or Ansu Fati.
Something that did not change is the interference of Jordi Alba with his climbs known to all, but which are still highly effective.
And that is his great virtue, that of always winning by his side even if his rivals are waiting for him.
Lionel Messi played as a center forward and scored his from a penalty Photo: AFP
Sergi Roberto also climbed up his band.
Given this, both Griezmann and Ansu got closer to Messi and thus Koeman's Barcelona was deployed in attack with four men and up to five if Coutinho joined that line.
Further back, De Jong helped, while Busquets and the centrals remained in the resistance.
At least in his presentation, Koeman managed to show that Barcelona can heal itself from the
Messide dependence
into which it had fallen in the Setién cycle.
Leo was one more
and not the one in charge of shouldering the construction of his team.
Barcelona functioned as a whole again and it was the healthiest of the premiere.
Later, it will be necessary to see if that position is comfortable for Lionel, who has fewer responsibilities and is more assisted, but who does not move in the sector that best suits him and in which he excels: on the right.
Ronald Koeman made his debut on the Barcelona bench and bet heavily on the kid Ansu Fati Photo: AFP
It will also be a matter of time to know if this production is sustained with the parties, since Villarreal was far from making the Catalans some strength.
After a first stage purely in person, the yellow players were able to take over the ball in a complement with Barcelona retracted and in automatic mode.
Even so, he hardly managed to give balls to his forwards Gerard Moreno and Paco Alcácer.
Sergio Asenjo was the culprit that the win was not greater.
In the final five he drowned another shot at Messi.
To this Messi less protagonist in a more supportive Barcelona.
HS
Look also
Barcelona vs Villarreal, for the Spanish League: goals, summary and result
Atlético Madrid vs Granada, for the Spanish League: goals, summary and result
