New Year Same Barca
On Thursday night FC Barcelona played away from home against Las Palmas in matchday 19 of Laliga Santander. It was the first game for both sides of the new year as Laliga went on a break because of the holidays. It was a match I looked forward to and hoped Barca would see positive results since they rested for the holidays. There were reports that Xavi had an intense conversation with the Barca players after the game in America and from what different Barca sources said Xavi was not having it with any of the players and wants the players to do better in the second part of the season.
It just clearly shows that the player's mentality has reduced and this has caused them to put less effort on the pitch because Barca should not be struggling with the quality Xavi has in the squad. The match against Las Palmas was a must-win for Barcelona to close down the gap between Girona( who are having an incredible run in Laliga this season) and Real Madrid who are looking to win the title this season in Laliga. It was an important game to get the boy's mentality strong for the rest of the second part of the season.
Las Palmas is not just a regular club, in fact, they have been doing great this season in Laliga compared to last season. They are currently 10th on the table and they have a lot of Barcelona La Masia players who did not make the first team. Their manager Garcia Pimienta was a former coach for Barca Athletic(Barcelona B) got fired when Laporta became Barcelona's new president. It was a match in which the La Masia players wanted to prove themselves and show their qualities to their parental club.
The match started slowly but in the 12th minute of the first half Las Palmas scored the first goal of the match and who else but former La Masia player Munir who scored the goal and was assisted by his teammate Sandro who also happened to be a former La Masia graduate. It was annoying because the squad seemed to have learned nothing from the first half of the season. Barca played horrible in the first half and failed to get a shot on target with Lewandoski on the pitch. It was frustrating to watch and it got me pissed up with the team.
The second half changed a little Ferran Torres scored a goal in the 55th minute to level the scoreline and in the 90+3 minutes Gundogan scored the last goal of the match from a penalty which secured the three points for Barcelona. Barca got the three points but it was still a horrible game. The positive side I took from the match was Vitor Roque's debut. The youngster could have scored two goals that night but missed his chances and I was impressed because his movement on the field shows that he will bring a lot of stability in the center-forward position when given the chance to play.
Barcelona plays tonight in the round of 32 in the Copa Del Rey and I think it will be a good opportunity for Xavi to start Roque and rest Lewandoski to see what the youngster can bring to the team. Looking forward to the game tonight and I just hope the team doesn't continue this form of play going forward into the season. So guys that will be all for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a good day.
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