Espanyol 0 Barcelona 2: Joan Garcia Heroics Guide Barcelona to Routine Win Over Pesky Neighbors
Football at Barcelona is often played in midfield. Listen to Barcelona fans talk and you will know that a signal of a good Barcelona team is found at the centre of the park. Michael Laudrup, Pep Guardiola, Deco, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, and now Pedri, De Jong, Gavi, and Marc Bernal. All are the coronation of what football is about. Football, Culers will tell you, is played in symmetry, with succinct one-touch passing in the middle, a feint here, a neat through pass there, sublime skill all around. The other positions, um, well, you can fill them with some scraps and some bargains.
Personally, though, I am beginning to think that Barcelona's best signing over the past few seasons might just be Joan Garcia, the goalkeeper.
Twice in that second half, Roberto Fernandez, Espanyol's centre forward, had two chances that even the most average center forward would use to end any goal drought without stretching themselves thin like butter on bread. Yet in both instances, Joan Garcia was emphatic with his saves. Garcia treats that six-yard box as his own mancave. ‘Thou shalt not pass, and if you dare, then be prepared to pass through me - all 6.4 of me!’
The first save was truly magnificent. He swatted the ball right from Fernandez's feet just as he was about to round him. In such instances, it usually is over for the keeper, who must accept his fate as he watches the centre forward knock the ball past him and score. But not Joan Garcia. If ever there is a title-winning save, it is that one. He made that save as though he was insulted that Fernandez would dare to do that in his own abode. That save sends chills down your spine in ways that not even a Stephen King novel can. Yet, in those two instances, Joan Garcia put his hands up and said 'No' emphatically. Those two were the standout moments, but he had many moments where he showed incredible goalkeeping.
In the first half, he parried the ball out in a one-on-one with Roberto Fernandez. He then showed incredible reflexes to tip the ball over the bar from a Pere Milla header, a player who made much noise before the game but failed to turn up.
Football goalkeepers are an underappreciated lot. Well, always underappreciated until recent times, when they began playing more with their feet, and suddenly everyone realized that they were also footballers. They live and breathe in the space between the two uprights, forever hovering under the crossbar. More adventurous ones venture outside the 18-yard penalty box, but even then, they are still required to do their best work with their hands inside the penalty box.
Joan Garcia was that against Espanyol - and then some more. When he made those truly absurd saves tonight against a spirited Espanyol determined not to lose a third successive home game (and fourth overall) against their age-old rivals at their RCDE Stadium, he did it with the lackadaisicalness of a father playing at the park with his son and friends on Sunday afternoon. He is casually put up a performance that is quickly becoming standard down at the Catalan Capital.
Through these saves, Joan Garcia is gifting Culers memories that will shape their perception of him as the long-awaited saviour between the sticks that they had all been crying for. 'If Messi had Joan Garcia, he would have two more Champions Leagues' and other regret-filled soliloquies now have a proper contrast to the keepers of old.
The corridors of Barcelona's Camp Nou dressing room in recent memory have been haunted by the now greatly despised Marc Andre Ter Stegen, who also had his moment of proficiency but nowhere as good as the levels Joan Garcia is showing now, and the shaky, maybe-he-isn't-so-bad-but-also-he-isn't-that-good, Iñaki Peña.
In a match that was tense and combative, exhilarating as age-old derbies should be, teetering on the edges of complete combustion but never fully igniting, Joan Garcia kept standing up after each save and high-fiving his teammates with the demeanor of an old man watching birds. 'What? Like it's hard.' His unceremonious facial expression said. Meanwhile, there I was in my living room, in the dark with the room lit only by the dull glow of my computer screen, hands in my head, mouth agape, breathless, fingers trembling, skin tingling, thinking, 'Just how on earth did he pull that off?'
His heroics kept Barcelona in the game in a second half where they looked like they would crumble under the increased pressure of the red-eyed, finger-pointing, and rage-filled Espanyol.
Subs Make Good Work of Garcia's Monstrous Showing
It was the subs who combined to ensure that Joan Garcia's monstrous performance did not go in vain. Pedri and Lewy came on for Rashford and Ferran, while Olmo and Fermin came on for Raphinha and Gerrard Martin, with Eric Garcia moving back to defense.
Immediately with Pedri on, Barcelona looked more assured in possession and with Lewy, they had an experienced fox in the box to cause problems to Espanyol's defense.
Fermin, a bright-eyed, heated honebadger of a player, turned nicely and ran into space before feeding the ball out wide to the left for Dani Olmo, who curled an impudent finish to the far post in the 87th minute. 1-0 Barcelona.
Three minutes later, as the clock turned 90, Fermin was at it again, this time showing great strength and skill to race into the box, shrug off challenges from Espanyol's Cabrera, and square the ball to Lewy for 2-0.
In the end, the scoreline makes the game look more comfortable than it was, but for the most part, this was an end-to-end affair, with Espanyol keeper, Dmitrovic, also putting on a display that will no doubt leave the heads of those of the Espanyol persuasion spinning (maybe Barcelona should also look into him, too, hehe).
There is a quiet acceptance slowly settling in Barcelona. To clash with the very best teams fully, fiercely, forcefully, with no punches pulled, the team needs proper security at the back. Proper midfield maestros, as proven by the emergence of good midfielders from La Masia in recent years, can only take you so far. Good goalkeepers, on the other hand, are not the easiest finds, and when found, they aren't easy to sustain (just look at the gradual decline of Ter Stegen). Yet it is their heroics that clean out the fine margins of knockout football, which has been a bane for Barcelona.
Thus, what I imagine the Blaugrana had craved for many years, since the heights of 2015, was always a great keeper. And over the years, even as they built teams, it was quite obvious that they would forever remain slightly haunted by the spaces in between the posts, forever questioning, 'Is this the best we could do?' With the performance tonight against his old club, Joan Garcia emphatically and conclusively answered 'Yes!' with a voice as forceful as his robust hands.
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Kiraka D. Mugatsia 'Son of No Man' (@kirakadm.bsky.social) — Bluesky
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