And Osimhen's goal eclipsed Iñigo Martínez

Stigmatized and always looking for a player to point the finger at, guilt has a bad press in football.

Iñigo Martínez did not get rid of that old Judeo-Christian recipe eager to find someone responsible, especially in bad times.

On the night that Barcelona returned to the Champions League round of 16 after three seasons, Xavi's boys played a good game in Naples.

“One of the best of the season,” the coaching staff celebrated.

However, Barça only earned one point.

And all eyes fell on Iñigo Martínez, as astute to overtake the team in the play that ended in Lewandowski's goal as he was naive to let Osimhen win the position in the Naples tie.

The Basque central defender walked alone through the labyrinth of corridors in the catacombs of Diego Armando Maradona to get to the bus from Barcelona.

He had an unfriendly face, with no desire to smile, much less talk.

He had been marked as the person responsible for Naples' tying goal.

“I had to wait for it.

It was not necessary for him to try to anticipate a strong forward like Oshimen,” analyzed a member of the coaching staff.

The Big Data, in any case, the same one that according to Xavi Hernández would immediately give Barcelona the leadership in the League, does not contemplate any error by Iñigo Martínez in Osimhen's goal.

“In yesterday's action, although at first glance it seems like a mistake by the central defender, statistically it is not.

He fell in a struggle.

He did not fail a pass to a teammate that enabled a rival or failed in an action that led to a goal situation where there was none,” explains Albert Valor, one of the specialists who works for Statsperfom, one of the large statistics companies in the sport.

Barcelona, ​​in any case, achieved its third best defensive work of the season in Naples.

“It was an opportunity and a goal.

We had a great game,” said Araujo, Iñigo's dance partner.

And Xavi added: “We dominated 75 minutes and their first shot on goal was a goal.

It is a pity.

This is the Champions League.

We have not been effective, it is the summary of the season.”

Barça received six shots (only one on goal: the goal) compared to Antwerp's three (one) in Montjuïc and Getafe's five (two goals) in the Alfonso Pérez Coliseum.

The power of Naples' forward line, in any case, precisely with Osimhen as its maximum reference, has more football and glamor than that of Antwerp and Getafe, two games in which Iñigo Martínez did not participate.

Xavi trusts in the experience, but essentially in the football of Iñigo Martínez.

And he did not want surprises against Naples.

“We have not thought about a question of seniority, only about competing in the best way and it is true that Iñigo gives us strength and ball delivery,” Xavi warned in the preview of the duel at the Diego Armando Maradona.

The truth is that, with the centre-back raised at Real Sociedad at the back, the Barça defense feels safer, and of course the team too.

With the Basque on the field, Barcelona has achieved a 66% victory rate;

without it 55%.

Furthermore, and most importantly for Xavi, with Iñigo as a left-footed centre-back, Barça conceded an average of 1.1 goals per game.

And, when he is not there, the statistic rises to 1.6.

45% more.

Iñigo Martínez was one of the strategic signings of the previous sports management.

Mateu Alemany and especially Jordi Cruyff, whose main objective was to find players who were out of contract, quickly set their eyes on the Athletic centre-back.

They spent long days in Bilbao and convinced the Basque that Xavi's Barcelona was a better option than Atlético de Madrid and also the tempting offers from the Italian league.

Xavi and Cruyff were in charge of convincing him on the sporting side, while Mateu did so on the economic side.

And so he became the first Barça reinforcement of the summer, although officially the first to be announced was Gündogan.

Barça did not make a mistake with Iñigo, a flash of light in the Barça team's defense this season.

Although this time the blame pointed to the Basque.

And Osimhen's goal eclipsed Iñigo Martínez.

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