It was the last thing he did before getting injured, but it proved crucial. It was the last time he touched the ball, but it was enough to secure a victory that leaves Barça with a nine-point lead in the championship with only eighteen remaining. Lamine Yamal placed the ball on the penalty spot and scored. While shooting, he suffered a hamstring tear. A significant loss, but his teammates managed to survive in the second half to secure a hard-fought, eventful, and worked triumph. Barça continues to count its home matches in the League as victories, and that strength is a treasure.
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The match started electrically and reached halftime much later than expected amidst a health emergency in the stands that stopped the game for a total of 18 minutes. Just before the match was halted, Barça took the lead, and Lamine Yamal got injured. The genius from Rocafonda combined supersonically with Dani Olmo and was the subject of a clear penalty by Lago. The Blaugrana forward himself asked for the ball and confidently scored the penalty. But at the moment of striking, he felt a muscle tweak and immediately asked for a substitution. Just after, he collapsed on the grass. He was attended to, amidst the anxiety at Camp Nou, and although he walked off on his own, he did not return to the field of play.
Up until the moment of his injury, he had been the best player for a Barcelona made uncomfortable by Celta’s good play with the ball, which was shifting the game down the wings and making the Barcelona players run too much, arriving late and chasing shadows. And the match could have started differently if Lamine Yamal had scored after twelve seconds following good pressure from Ferran Torres. He sent it wide, and in the next play, it was Pablo Durán who could have put Celta ahead. His shot was repelled with a great save by Joan Garcia.
The match had rhythm, liveliness, and arguments. Celta, who had a second chance at Jutglà’s feet, had come to compete and was doing so despite the bad streak with which they arrived at Camp Nou. Barça, with the return of Cubarsí to the center of the defense as the only novelty, was not quite stabilizing, and Cancelo was the first to get injured, leaving his place to Balde.
Lamine Yamal scored the winning goal but suffered a hamstring tear while converting the penalty
But the one who generated danger every time he got the ball was Lamine Yamal, who was close to scoring with a superb shot with the toe. He looked focused, engaged, a leader, pulling his weight, hungry. At least he was able to leave his team in the lead before getting injured and before Roony came on for him. The Swede, just before halftime, came close to the second with a powerful shot from the edge of the box that the goalkeeper Radu deflected.
All amidst a windy and strange night, with that eternal first half that stretched, with the clock running, to 67 minutes.
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Barça was winning but had lost its beacon. They were ahead on the scoreboard, but the match was far from resolved. They had to row and maintain concentration to preserve the same lead in the championship because Celta still had the dynamite of Borja Iglesias and even Iago Aspas on the bench.
Flick resorted to Fermín, who came on for Gavi. The player from Los Palacios asked for the change due to a knock. What a match. Celta tried to fish in troubled waters while Barça changed strategy and protected themselves with the ball, extending their possessions. The idea was that not too many things would happen and time would pass without giving up on the second goal.
The leader knew how to survive without its star and continues to make Camp Nou a fortress in the League
In fact, Ferran Torres scored with a beautiful volley after a perfect cross from Pedri. But the Valencian was unlucky because it was disallowed for a scientific and millimeter offside, one of those incredible ones, like Lamine Yamal’s at Anoeta. Celta brought in more firepower with Borja and Aspas, and Flick opted for Rashford and De Jong, for Ferran and Olmo. The midfielder became the Dutchman with the most matches in Barça’s history, with 293, surpassing Cocu.
Statistics aside, between De Jong, who came on with vigor, Pedri, and Fermín’s grit, the team did not face more trouble than a foul committed by Eric. He received a card and will be out for Getafe. But that will be another match. They managed to get through the Celta one.
