On matchday 34 of LaLiga, leaders FC Barcelona, managed by Hansi Flick, faced Valladolid. With five games to go, Barça are four points ahead of Real Madrid, their closest rivals, and will visit the José Zorrilla stadium to face Pucela, a team that has already been relegated. In this match, which had everything for the Azulgranas, they won 1-2, putting them one step closer to LaLiga, with the league title getting closer and closer.
Valladolid, after suffering a 5-1 defeat last time out against Betis, their seventh consecutive league defeat, took to the field to avoid their eighth consecutive defeat in the top flight for the first time in their history. But they will not have it easy against the Catalans, who ended up winning 7-0 in the first leg.
FC Barcelona started losing against Valladolid
FC Barcelona are coming into the game on the back of a draw in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Inter Milan, which was not enough for them, also because last weekend they managed to win the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid.
All in all, FC Barcelona is playing Valladolid with its sights set on LaLiga. Flick’s team, leaders of the championship, have the chance to be crowned champions in next week’s Clásico, provided they beat Valladolid and Real Madrid stumble against Celta.
The match started strongly for the Catalans, who showed themselves to be offensive and full of flair from the first minute. Mercy was not in their vocabulary today, even though Valladolid already knew that they were mathematically relegated to LaLiga Hypermotion for next season.
However, against all odds, Valladolid took the lead against FC Barcelona just five minutes into the game. It happened in the center of the area, where the ball was almost lost on the wing, but Iván Sánchez rescued it and took a shot that, in an attempt to deflect it by Araujo, took a strange bounce and ended up in the back of the net.
With that unexpected start, Flick began to move his players around so as not to lose ground throughout the match, knowing that comebacks are always difficult, whether against Valladolid or teams such as Atlético, for example.
We were past the first fifteen minutes of the match. And FC Barcelona’s B team began to wake up after the goal against them, as this could complicate their possible LaLiga championship. The Culés began to reach the opposition’s area.
Despite the goal, Hansi Flick’s team dominated the match, trying to open up space both on the wings and through the middle. For their part, Real Valladolid managed to close ranks to help the defense, something that would later come back to haunt them.
Along the way, however, FC Barcelona were given a scare when Ronald Araújo went down. The Uruguayan felt some discomfort in his thigh after covering Moro in a sprint backwards. From then on, Valladolid tried to break out quickly, but it was Barça who defended well. From that point on, it was a monologue by the Blaugrana, who went into the break goalless and trailing on the scoreboard.
Raphinha and Fermín López help Barça move closer to LaLiga
At the start of the second half, although Barça’s ‘B’ team began the match somewhat behind their rivals, Hansi Flick decided that this FC Barcelona-Valladolid match should not be remembered as the place where they let LaLiga slip away. That is why the coach opted to make some changes, such as bringing on Ansu Fati and Lamine Yamal to get the team going and seek victory.
And it seems to have worked. So much so that it was Raphinha who equalized in the 54th minute with a breakthrough move for the Catalans. It was a great cross into the box where Ferreira rushed out and conceded the rebound to Raphinha, who scored with a shot that had his name written all over it, a trademark finish.
Barça, therefore, scored the equalizer in a match in which some of the regulars, such as Pedri and Raphinha, had to save Hansi Flick’s ‘B’ team. That, of course, meant that Fermín López got his share of the pie and took advantage of the moment to score FC Barcelona’s second goal against Valladolid, who had already lost their lead in the 65th minute.
Amid some good play from the visitors, such as Víctor Fort’s chance, Valladolid had several opportunities to get back into the game. For example, Latasa had a chance, testing Ter Stegen for the second time in just 10 minutes. Although Ter Stegen was able to keep the opposition at bay, the Barça defense made things increasingly difficult in the game.
After the initial scare, FC Barcelona lived up to expectations and took the victory at a José Zorrilla stadium that dreamed for many minutes of causing the upset of the day. Flick had to resort to several of his regular starters to secure the win, after starting the game with a lineup full of substitutes.