HomeNewsTHE FALL OF BARCELONA

THE FALL OF BARCELONA

By Shreyas Rai

Published on:

Updated on:
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Barcelona vs Celta Vigo match report

FC Barcelona welcomed 8th place side Celta Vigo to Camp Nou for their last home game of the season. The Catalans’ title hopes received a big blow last week when the club threw away a 2-0 lead in their last match against Levante as they drew 3-3. Celta Vigo secured an important win last week against Getafe.

However, Barcelona couldn’t take 3 points from the game as they lost to Santi Mina’s brace at the Camp Nou. The Spaniard scored in the 89th minute to defeat Barcelona The loss also means that Barcelona won’t be crowned champions of Spain and it might be the last game for Ronald Koeman and Lionel Messi at the Camp Nou.

 

 

Koeman who has been under the scanner lately might be shown the door after the season comes to an end. With Barcelona just winning one trophy this season, fans and the Board might part ways with the Dutch manager.

The match started with Barcelona showing a lot of venom when attacking. Pedri and Messi had some moments where they could have scored the first goal but didn’t trouble the scorers for almost half an hour. Celta rarely saw the ball as the Blaugrana enjoyed most of the possession. Celta were playing well defensively as they avoided waves of Barcelona’s attacks. Barcelona opened the scoring with Messi netting the ball.

But what followed was determination and courage by the Celta players as they turned around the lead to win the match 2-1.

 

CHANCES, CHANCES, AND CHANCES

The Catalans had a dozen chances before that to open the scoring but once again failed to capitalize. Right off the bat, Barcelona looked dominant on the pitch as they kept long spells of possession. Celta Vigo was chasing shadows for most of the first half. Barcelona though couldn’t profit from them. Messi, Griezmann, Pedri, and Dembele all had clear-cut opportunities to break the shackles but failed to do so.

 

 

Barca looked very dominating in the middle of the park and a few more goals could have easily followed but they couldn’t increase their lead. Though Barcelona scored in the 28th minute they conceded just 10 minutes later reducing their chances of a Spanish title.

It seemed as if Barcelona would surely increase their lead in the second half but it wasn’t the case. Martin Braithwaite had the best chance of the second half just before the final whistle. The Danish striker missed a chance from 5-yards, the ball going harmlessly out for a goal kick.

 

GOLDEN BOOT LOADING…

Lionel Messi, like most of the time, broke the deadlock in the match. He headed the ball past Celta’s goalkeeper in the 28th minute of the match to give Barcelona the lead. A goal looked inevitable sooner or later as Busquets found Messi running behind a defender in the box. He placed a lofted cross to La Pulga who found the back of the net for the 30th time this season.

And once again the Barcelona fans could reminisce the connection between Busquets and Messi. Messi who could be playing at Camp Nou for the last time in his career gave everything so that he could land another league title home.

 

 

With 30 goals scored this season, it’s impossible that he’ll be displaced off the top-scorer chart and could win another Golden Boot for himself. Barca looked very dominating in the middle of the park and a few more goals could have easily followed but they couldn’t increase their lead. The Argentine gave his beloved club the advantage they wanted in the first half.

 

 

The second half was kind of the same as Messi found a few opportunities but couldn’t increase to his tally of goals this season. The Barcelona captain who’s always vicious in front of goal saw his shots either get blocked or go wide instead of going inside the goal

 

MINA SPOILING THE PARTY

Celta Vigo scored a goal with their first shot of the game which came 38 minutes into the half. Celta created a counter-attack disposing Barcelona near the half-line. The attack was led by Iago Aaspas who made a steaming run on the right-wing and then found Santi Mina alone just outside the box. The Catalan defenders were still trailing back and Mina had Pique and Ter Stegen in front of him.

The majestic Spaniard used Pique as a shield to curl the ball into the goal. Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen remained rooted to his spot as he saw the ball going into the goal. Many pundits believed that the goal Barcelona conceded was Pique’s fault.

 

 

The 34-year-old tried to be street smart but Mina took a shot in the other direction. And he left his goalkeeper blindsided as Celta equalized. It was a beautiful finish by the Spanish international who scored his 11th goal of this campaign. It was a shambolic goal for Koeman’s team to concede as both teams went into the tunnel at 1-1.

Mina then scored the most crucial goal of the match as he volleyed the ball into an empty Barca net. Barcelona who was already down to 10 men conceded a goal just seconds before the end of the game. A wide cross came into the box once again from the right side which hit the post and landed in Mina’s path.

 

And it was one of the easiest goals he could have scored as Ter Stegn was on the floor while Mina smashed the ball into the roof of the goal. This goal meant that Barcelona has officially been thrown out of the La Liga race as they’ll have to wait another year for their 27th title.

Shreyas Rai

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