Barcelona does not fan itself to win its ninth Copa del Rey handball in a row

Barcelona won as always in Spain in the last decade, but suffered like few times.

Like never, probably, in the last five years to raise a title.

He has not lost a national crown since 2013;

however, his ninth Copa del Rey in a row demanded a great deal.

He went into the break with a scare in his body (11-15) against a fantastic Granollers and had to tighten the nuts until the last second.

A partial of 19-11 in the second half, decided in a great Barça start, left things where they were (30-26), where everyone expected, prolonging the absolute dominance of the Catalans in the Iberian terrain, although with much crumb in the plot.

He already suffered to dispatch Anaitasuna in the quarterfinals and the final confirmed that Barça can no longer always fan themselves in Spain.

At least, so far this season.

After a perfect season (61 wins without failure, with the Champions League included), the cycle change at the Palau with the departures of Xavi Pascual, David Barrufet, Raúl Entrerríos, Palmarsson, Kevin Moller and Casper Mortensen, and the arrival on the bench by Antonio Carlos Ortega under the guidance of Joan Laporta and Enric Masip, has given rise to a not so overwhelming domain in Spain and with some missteps abroad (lost the Mundialito final, lost in three games of the group stage of the Champions and tied another two).

A data:

this was his eighth match that he wins by less than five goals in national territory when last year all the duels were won by more difference.

No one disputes his hegemony in the League and, except for an unforeseen turn, he still has a leash;

neither his favoritism in the rest of the tournaments;

but the distances with some teams are not always so great and the way has been opened to think that a specific surprise is possible in this section of the journey.

It's not much, but a few months ago it was unimaginable.

On the other side, Granollers practically guaranteed the European ticket (all they have to do is wait for Barça to tie the league title) and exhibited their great handball with the likes of Pol Varela, Antonio García, Chema Márquez, Esteban Salinas and Rangel Luan.

Less than a month ago he rushed the azulgranas at the Palau in the Asobal and in the Cup final he overwhelmed him even more.

Fatigue and the inevitable lack of wardrobe, the great deficit of that second platoon that aspires to break the streak, kept him away in the second part from giving the big blow.

They were the last, in 2018, to defeat Barcelona in Spain on the track (a few months ago the Catalans lost in the offices against Torrelavega due to improper alignment) and this Sunday, in Antequera, for a very long time they believed that the feat it was possible.

Slow pace

It didn't take long for Barcelona to find out that the afternoon wasn't going to be easy, and even less so against a Granollers team that had been threatening.

Except for some initial saves by Pérez de Vargas, the only player on the Barça side was N'Guessan, the protagonist of six of his team's first eight goals.

The rest of the culés suffered hypotension and a huge traffic jam in attack.

On the other hand, a clear objective was to slow down the pace of the game, so that nothing would get out of hand to prevent the rival from running.

And, from then on, the growth and self-conviction of Granollers was continuous.

Pol Varela directed and scored (five of his seven goals were before intermission), the big body of Esteban Salinas moved with the skill of an eel in the pivot, and under the sticks Rangel Luan believed it more and more.

He took the first lead (8-10 in the 20th minute), adapted well to Barcelona's 5-1 defense and stretched further until the break (11-15) with a final run of 0-4 that could have been more.

That maximum distance came as soon as they returned from the locker room (11-16), but the Vallesan party ended there.

Pérez de Vargas and the defense tightened the screws, Cindric accelerated and N'Guessan received help on the job.

They were 15 minutes of Barça's superiority, but enough.

From 11-16 it went in the 48th minute to 23-18.

Pol Varela was no longer in charge, very subdued from the intermission, it was difficult for Salinas, Rangel Luan was not seen as much under the sticks and the losses appeared.

The improvement at the back allowed the azulgranas to run, and nobody can tie them there.

A 7-0 run anticipated the outcome, although Granollers still wanted to make the last reply.

Chema Márquez, a guy who always goes for the right and doesn't give up even when shot despite his obvious exhaustion, put his men down to two with five minutes to go (25-23) and forced Barça to be alert until the Last second.

The Catalans did not loosen up, and they could not fan themselves as they used to until recently.

A title with small print.

Barcelona, ​​30 - Granollers, 26

Barca

: Perez de Vargas;

Aleix Gómez (7, 5p), Mem (2), Fabregas (2), Petrus (2), N'Guessan (8) and Ángel Fernández (2) —initial team—;

Maciel (ps), Janc, Martí Soler, Cindric (4), Makuc, Langaro (1), Ben Ali (2), Richardson and Ali Zein.

Granollers

: Rangel Luan;

Sergi Franco (-), Chema Márquez (8), Pol Valera (7, 1p), Antonio García (4), Adrià Martínez (1) and Esteban Salinas (6) —initial team—;

Varela (ps), Edgar Pérez, Gurri, Álex Márquez, Armengol, De Sande, Rey and Amigó.

Score every five minutes

: 1-2, 3-4, 7-7, 9-10, 10-12 and 11-15;

15-17, 17-18, 21-18, 23-19, 26-23 and 30-26.

Referees

: Marin and Garcia Serradilla.

They excluded Langaro, Ali Zein, Janc, Antonio García, Amigó and Salinas for two minutes.

Fernando Argüelles de Antequera Pavilion: about 2,500 spectators.

You can follow EL PAÍS DEPORTES on