08/21/2021 3:35 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/21/2021 7:40 PM
There is a free kick a couple of meters from the area and the evocation is immediate.
Memphis and Griezmann look at each other, the Dutchman takes over, the ball spikes and goes smoothly into the goalkeeper's hands.
Jordi Alba overflows to the bottom but the pass that arrived pumped and with the exact right now brushes the few hairs that remain on the back of his neck and goes to the side.
Braithwaite is alone in the small area, with the goalkeeper out of the race and the ball served.
He hits her bitten and throws her over the crossbar.
And the curious combo is enlarged when Ronald Araújo rehearses two spectacular pirouettes: one to convert a goal that is disallowed due to a previous infraction and another to avoid a rival celebration on the line.
Barcelona is learning to play with 12. Because the ghost of Lionel Messi will continue to hover in his unconscious.
And those games that he won with an Argentine genius now force him to fight and overcome to reach a draw.
It was a good point that he took from the new San Mamés against Athletic Bilbao who, until the physicist gave him, was superior and prevailed with authority.
If an unsuspecting person looked at the screen as they passed, it would have been difficult for them to realize that that team with the lavender shirt and little-known faces was Barcelona.
Because in the goal it does not give security Neto, who replaces the injured Ter Stegen, in the right lane Sergiño Dest is still in debt, Araújo entered for Gerard Piqué (with a discomfort in the ribs) in the first half and when it was necessary to go for the Ronald Koeman's draw was left with little choice but to send Yusuf Demir, an 18-year-old Austrian forward, who is on loan from Rapid Vienna and made his debut.
The Catalan team had flashes, especially when Frenkie De Jong is plugged in, the clearest to handle the actions from area to area but who needs company.
Or when he faces Memphis, which moves comfortably when he leans back on the left wing and pulls the diagonal towards the middle.
This was the most poignant in the first half and had his prize when he put the beautiful left-handed bomb for 1-1.
Memphis Depay goal for Barcelona 🇳🇱🔥 pic.twitter.com/JSQyCoise2
- Yoryidan 🐢 (@yoryidan_rm) August 21, 2021
Is it enough with that?
It would seem not.
The team has not yet put Griezmann on his shoulder, Busquets is too far from the danger zone, Pedri pays the bill for a summer without rest.
And the defense is still fragile, even more so in the face of so much replacement due to injuries.
The point is positive to advance in the reconstruction.
Because Athletic had surpassed him in attitude and in play.
And the most worrying thing is that he did it with simple actions, especially with long balls for Iñaki Williams, who drove the centrals crazy or aerial balls like the one that Íñigo Martínez connected for 1-0.
In times of pandemic, the world speaks of new normalities and each latitude adapts to the situation that allows the degree of circulation of the virus.
Barcelona is also adjusting to its new life.
Messi had Athletic as one of his favorite victims: he scored 18 goals per league and never lost a match in the local tournament.
In the total balance, there were 29 shouts in 41 games, adding 8 goals in the Copa del Rey and 3 in the Spanish Super Cup.
What Messi gave him and no one will give it to him.
Now Leo is a tourist in the city where he lived most of his life, he watches the team he transformed forever on television and poses for the photos Antonela uploaded to Instagram at the reunion with her dogs, before the final move to Paris.
And Barcelona, in its new life, is satisfied with San Mamés with a draw.