FC Barcelona made tough work of their away La Liga fixture against Real Valladolid, a side that has already been relegated to the second division. On paper, it seemed like a mismatch, but football is played out on the field.
Valladolid took an early lead in the game thanks to a goal from a deflected cross that left Marc-Andre Ter Stegen stranded in no-man’s land. Barcelona tried to break down the door in the first half, but it ended 1-0 in Rayo’s favor.
Flick was forced to abandon his rotation policy and bring in players like Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong, and it eventually paid off with the Brazilian pulling Barcelona level before Fermin Lopez scored the winner to give the Catalan side a 2-1 win.
With all this in mind, we at Sempre Barca bring to you three things we learned as Barcelona beat Real Valladolid 2-1 away from home in La Liga.
1: Flick needed the big guns
Hansi Flick decided to rotate the starting XI last night against Real Valladolid and started the game with some lesser-used weapons from his arsenal. However, his side found themselves staring down the barrel at half-time.
The German coach then had to make a tough call, and he wasted no time in bringing the big guns out, which eventually changed the game in his side’s favour. Ideally, the German coach would have wanted to rest them for a bit longer.
However, Barcelona lacked intensity in the first 45 minutes last night, which is understandable considering that the players on the pitch had hardly featured alongside each other this season, and the lack of chemistry was quite evident to the eye.
Ultimately, it is a situation that Flick would like to look at as half full rather than half empty, and he at least managed to give partial rest to his regular starters ahead of their all-important game against Inter Milan the coming week.
2: Andreas Christensen – what a footballer!
Anyone who saw last night’s game without the context of what has transpired this season wouldn’t have guessed that this was Andreas Christensen’s first start of the campaign. The Dane looked like he had been playing this system for ages.
Holding the high line in Hansi Flick’s setup has been a challenging task for central defenders, and while Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez have been at it since the start of the campaign, one has seen how much Araujo has struggled since his return from injury.
Christensen, on the other hand, played the offside trap like he was born playing it. His natural intelligence as a footballer makes him one of the better exponents of this system, and if not for his injuries, one cannot put it past him to be a guaranteed starter in Flick’s team.
With all the injuries affecting Barcelona at the end of the season, Christensen is likely to have a key role to play in the games to come, and let’s wait and see if he can build on yesterday’s performance and keep getting better going forward.
3. Get well soon, Dani Rodriguez!
La Masia star Dani Rodriguez got his much-deserved first team debut for Barcelona last night, but the joyous occasion for the kid turned out to be a nightmare, with the teenager popping his shoulder in the first half.
It was one of those challenges that looked innocuous at first, but it was clear that Dani was in some pain, and his hand had to be taped tightly to his body, and he was helped off the field just half an hour into his first-team debut.
It was an injury that typified what Rodriguez’s career has been so far. Always touted to be a huge talent, injuries have halted his development in recent seasons, and he is likely to miss a chunk of action with this latest injury.
One can only wish for the youngster to recover well and completely as soon as possible, and Hansi Flick is likely to involve him in the first team dynamics again. There is enough time, Dani – stay strong and come back better!
