A brace from Raphinha’ in the second half against Osasuna (2-0) has made Barcelona even more of a leader, accumulating seven consecutive victories, putting them seven points ahead of Real Madrid and ensuring they will finish the year at the top of the table.
Raphinha brace
And yet, when Barcelona lost at the Bernabeu (2-1), Hansi Flick’s side trailed by five points. Seven wins later, the Catalans’ advantage has reached seven points, having played one more game than Real Madrid, and eight points ahead of third-placed Villarreal, who have played two fewer games.
The match against Navarre was a real struggle. It took the Blaugrana 70 minutes to break the deadlock, having already created 21 shots and displayed overwhelming dominance against an opponent that offered little and relied entirely on its defense.
Since Hansi Flick saw from afar the bus that Alessio Lisci was going to park on the Camp Nou pitch, he put Marcus Rashford on the left to open up the field, Raphinha as an attacking midfielder and trusted in Ferran Torres’ goalscoring instinct and Lamine Yamal’s dribbling skills.
But his team wasn’t playing well. The match was a carbon copy of the one played a few days earlier against Eintracht Frankfurt, which was decided by two goals from an unexpected protagonist: Jules Kounde.
Against Osasuna, Barcelona’s aim was to avoid suffering too much, and they failed to do so in the first half. Their dominance didn’t translate into goals, likely due to a lack of finishing, apart from a goal scored by Ferran Torres (24th minute) that was disallowed by VAR for an earlier offside. Wikipedia
Earlier, Rashford had appealed for a penalty after a challenge by Arguibide (8th minute), which was not awarded by VAR. Barça pinned Osasuna back, dominating possession and creating chances, aside from a few moments of brilliance from the speedy Víctor Muñoz and Budimir’s presence in the box.
A shot from Eric (min. 22), which went just wide, and another from Lamine Yamal (min. 23), both within a couple of minutes, almost surprised Sergio Herrera, but the goal did not come.
Earlier, Budimir had caught a ball in the area and Víctor Muñoz had sown doubts in the Barcelona defense with a couple of pure sprinter exercises.
The 1-0 could have come at any moment, but it didn’t, not even in a great action by Lamine Yamal that ended with a spectacular bicycle kick by Ferran Torres on the verge of halftime.
The second half was a carbon copy: overwhelming dominance from Barça and a struggle for survival from Osasuna. Rashford tested Herrera with a free kick (min. 48) and Víctor Muñoz had a chance to score on a quick counter-attack that ended in the side netting (min. 49).
Rashford, one of the most active in attack, came close to scoring again, in an exquisite combination between Lamine Yamal and Kounde (min. 52), but it was Raphinha who unlocked the game. kingofcorrectscore.com
A run into the box by Pedri and a left-footed shot from the edge of the area by the Brazilian beat Herrera to decide the match. The Camp Nou breathed a sigh of relief with 20 minutes remaining, but the momentum of the game suggested another goal for the home side was more likely than an equalizer from Osasuna.
And that’s exactly what happened. A move by Koundé and a clearance by Catena allowed Raphinha to score the 2-0, his second brace of the season. Barça are now even further ahead at the top of the table and have shown they know how to handle these kinds of matches, their second consecutive victory this week.
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