Barcelona Cap off Brilliant Week with Win over Real Oviedo

Image source - Fc Barcelona Twitter

This has been an eventful week at Barcelona. Gavi is out injured and will be on the sidelines for 4-5 months after surgery on his meniscus, while Balde and Lamine Yamal could be ready by the time PSG comes into town next week, and with Real Madrid looking unstoppable, Barca needed a performance befitting of defending champions to pile pressure on the Blancos.

But that didn’t quite happen in the first half.

Real Oviedo came in with a plan, and Barcelona found it hard to get going in that first half that lacked penetration, decisiveness, and personality. Casado, a player whom you can’t fault for lacking heart, but who often struggles against physical aggression such as the one at Estadio Carlos Tartiere tonight, was dire. Raphinha continued looking a little off-colour in that first half, while Olmo looked lost and completely cut off from his teammates. What should have been a chance to show some personality, some bite, some drive, anything, instead added to a growing list of performances that make you wonder why Barcelona spend so much on him. By no means is he a bad player; he is just bad at being useful when needed.

However, Rashford looked lively and continued stacking to his growing list of good performances for us. Pedri was, as usual, peerless, providing some much-needed control and penetration in an otherwise nonexistent midfield. It was obvious that he was missing that synergy with De Jong, though.

Oviedo looked dangerous, especially through right winger Hassan, who had Gerrard Martin spread out on the chopping blocks in a first half in which they threatened to nuke and render useless the Barca defensive line completely.

However, it was from a Barca mistake that Oviedo would take the lead. A long punt forward from the Oviedo defensive third forced Garcia to come and sweep, with Rondon closing in. The keeper did well to get to the ball, control it, and then push it past Hassan in a great display of sweeper-keeper instincts. However, his pass in-field for Casado instead found Reina, who hit a beautiful strike from 30-40 yards out to give Oviedo the lead, giving Barcelona a mountain to climb.

Second Half Blitz

In the second half, Flick instantly rectified his earlier mistake, sending on De Jong for the completely overwhelmed Casado. Immediately, Barcelona began dominating the midfield, looking comfortable while also appearing more dangerous as Pedri finally played alongside his perfect soulmate.

And in the 55^th minute, it paid off. A routine corner somehow found Ronald Araujo down the left side. The centre back beat Dendoncker down the right side like a seasoned winger and put in a low cross that Ferran managed to control, spin, and shoot on goal.  Oviedo keeper, Escandell, got a finger to it, but Eric Garcia showed great instincts to react quickest and smash home the rebound. 1-1.

After that, it was one-way traffic, with Barca looking the more likely to get a second. Raphinha had his shot saved by Escandell in the 56th minute, while Ferran failed to generate enough power to beat the Oviedo keeper from a Raphinha cross a minute later.

On the other side, fleet-footed Hassan continued to pull Gerrard Martin's pants down and running him ragged, while Joan Garcia was forced to a brilliant stop to keep Reina’s shot from outside the box.

Then, in the 64^th minute, Lewandowski, who is still feeling his way to full fitness, replaced the ineffective Raphinha, and he joined Ferran up front as a nominal front two.

And just five minutes after coming on, Lewy would justify Flick’s decision to introduce him early when he headed home with authority from the magisterial Frenkie De Jong’s cross. 2-1 Barca, and from this point onward, it was a matter of Barca not doing anything stupid to choke a hard-fought lead.

Then, in the 88^th minute, Ronald Araujo capped off an outstanding performance when he headed home Rashford's corner to ensure Blaugrana returned to Barcelona with all three points and three goals to match. That third goal, by the way, was Barca’s 19^th goal in just six La Liga games! Madness!

This win comes four days after Barcelona slayed the intractable Getafe at the Johan Cruyff stadium, sweeping aside the anti-football outfit 3-0, with a double from Ferran Torres and one from Dani Olmo, who was impressive in that match.

With the win over Oviedo, Barcelona move to 16 points, two adrift of leaders Real Madrid, who will be visiting their cross-city rivals, Atletico Madrid, at the Wanda Metropolitano in what we can only hope will be a win for the Rojiblancos. Heck, even a draw will be fine.

Visca Barca!

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