The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Dembélé responds to the challenge

2021-02-27T18:58:47.836Z


Criticized by the coach for the lack of a goal, the winger exploits his speed and ends a nine-game drought


Dembélé has not appeared before the media since he arrived at Barça because he understands that journalists are his enemies.

Sometimes he is not seen in the training field either, especially in previous courses and in this until it was decided that he was staying at the Camp Nou before emigrating to Manchester United (he did not want to go on loan but signed).

Nor is he lavish almost in the city, preferring to surround himself with his family at home and often with

PlayStation

controls

in hand.

But if he is inspired with the ball at his feet, the difficult thing is not to see him.

Sevilla knows it well.

Koeman summoned him during the week, tired of the repeated error of the Barça attackers in the auction.

"Ousmane had several occasions against Elche and one must be scored," said the Dutch coach, who discharged Griezmann of responsibility because he started the year wonderfully, even though his sights were out of focus again in February, lacking goals.

Dembélé did reply in the Pizjuán.

He did it as a false point because Koeman pulled him in to leave the lane for Alba's ascents - he played with a 3-5-2 with Pedri as a hitch -, well connected with Messi.

“It was about putting a fast and deep player next to Leo.

That's why he played and not Griezmann ”, explained the Barça coach.

And from that relationship came the goal.

Although he went to the second attempt because at the beginning, Dembélé scored a slalom to the balcony of the area that he defined with a kick that did not decompose Bono.

Aggressive and with very high decibels in terms of intensity, Koeman's Barça exerted pressure like never before after loss.

In one of those, Busquets scraped the ball and gave a pass to Messi, who discounted a pressure line.

On the 10th he absorbed it, turned around and put it on the run for Dembélé, who solved low and with his left foot.

"We had talked about looking for Ousmane's speed and Leo's passes ... What we wanted came out," Koeman congratulated himself.

It was Dembélé's second goal in the team's 15 games in 2021, after nine duels.

Tonic for Barça, because in the last six stakes only Messi, Alba, Junior and Trincão had seen the door.

Little was known about the rest;

Braithwaite adds nine duels without any celebration and Griezmann another six, absent due to injury Coutinho and Fati.

Dembélé's goal was a blow for Sevilla, but also for goalkeeper Bono, who left the mark of not conceding goals in 556 minutes, the best streak of a goalkeeper in the League since December 2016, when Diego López accumulated 586 minutes with the Espanyol jacket.

Barcelona lacked players with a break, Dembélé is known to be important for Koeman and his idea of ​​challenging in the band to finish on the inside.

And, with the goal in his pocket, the Frenchman became great.

Like in that play on the left that dribbled two to end up passing it to a Messi who finished too high.

Or that other shot that ended up in the tangle of rival legs and that Dest converted into a kick that only the post dared to spit out.

With 10 minutes to go, Dembélé was relieved by Braithwaite.

But with the triumph in the bag, rounded off by Messi and only spoiled by Araujo (he twisted his left ankle again and relapsed after 15 minutes of short), and Pedri, who left with a muscle injury and got off the bus on crutches.

Source: elparis

All sports articles on 2021-02-27

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.