A historic night for the German goalkeeper… and the runner-up is safe
Barcelona marked the relegation of Almeria to the second division in Spain, by defeating its host with a score of (2-0), today, Thursday, in the 36th round of the Spanish League.
On the Mediterranean Games field, Barcelona’s youth imposed their personality on the hosts, thanks to the brilliance of young midfielder Fermin Lopez, who scored both goals in the match and was the undisputed man of the match.
Barcelona raised its score to 79 points in second place in the Spanish League table, which rival Real Madrid officially won two rounds ago, and thus Barca needs only a draw point in its next match against Rayo Vallecano in order to secure the runner-up position against Girona’s ambitions.
Blessings to the youth, Xavi
In today’s match, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez relied on a squad mostly made up of young people, with the exception of 3 experienced players: goalkeeper Mark Ter Stegen, midfielder Sergi Roberto, and striker Robert Lewandowski.
The team appeared relatively better in the second half, despite the weakness of the opponent, as it played attacking and fast football, but it still suffered from naive defensive gaps.
Evidence of this is the success of goalkeeper Ter Stegen in saving 3 goals for the opponent, in addition to the easy opportunities that the Spanish team’s attackers wasted.
This was a historic night for the German goalkeeper, as the Opta network reported that Ter Stegen equaled Andoni Zubizarreta’s record as the second goalkeeper in Barcelona’s history to participate in official matches with 410 matches… and is surpassed only by the duo, goalkeeper Victor Valdes (535 matches).
Fermin Lopez…a light at the end of the dark tunnel
Fermin Lopez was the undisputed man of the match, as he was able to score the two winning goals thanks to his brilliant penetration into the opponent’s penalty area without anyone noticing him.
Lopez (21 years old) proved that the La Masia Academy is still producing talent capable of pulling the club out of the vortex of crises, whether technical or economic, as the young player scored his tenth goal tonight, in his first season with the first team.
Aside from the two goals, Lopez’s statistics indicate the extent of his quality with the team, as he made 38 passes with an accuracy of 95%, and made two successful dribbles, while playing 3 key passes and 3 long passes that were 100% successful, in addition to 4 shots on goal.
Even on the defensive level, Fermin Lopez won 5 out of 8 tackles, intercepted a dangerous opponent’s shot, and did not make any mistakes throughout the match.
Fermin raised the expectations of Barcelona fans at the end of a sad season, as they now consider him a point of light at the end of the dark tunnel. All that remains is for Xavi to build on him the plan to revive the club with his teammates Koparsi, Pedri and Lamine Yamal.
Self-destruct button
At a time when Barcelona fans are beginning to weave their dreams of building a new project for the future led by Xavi, President Joan Laporta is feeling with his hands pressing the team’s self-destruct button.
Reports indicated that Laporta and his management are angry with Xavi and there is thinking about retracting the decision to continue him until the end of next season, which once again threatens the club’s project with demolition.