Barcelona hangover appeared

At FC Barcelona, someone pressed the calm button and that is what we have seen to some extent in Xavi Hernandez’s team in the last two matches. You can see a lot of relaxation in the band, and a lack of focus on, as the Spanish press would call it, playing after the party. Robert Lewandowski and his team mates are already thinking of getting a well-deserved vacation, and not of matches in La Liga.

Xavi also decided to change the lineup, which did not work out very well for some players (Eric Garcia, Pablo Toure). In the last matches of the season, Pedri, who is again suffering from an injury, will probably no longer play, which, of course, cannot be explained by the position of the national champion.

First, the defeat against Real Sociedad San Sebastian at the Camp Nou, and on Tuesday a big stumble in Valladolid with Real there. The team, owned by the famous Brazilian Ronaldo, had to win to prevent other clubs from leaving in the relegation battle. Uruguay’s Paulo Pezzolano put in an inspiring performance, Jordi Masip’s goal doubled and tripled. He only failed to save a shot by Lewandowski, who scored the 23rd goal of the season and is heading firmly towards the title of top scorer in La Liga – Pichichi.

On the one hand, euphoria reigns in Zorilla, but it does not last long, because there are still two final matches to play. It seems that the next meeting will be a match for everything, because Almeria at home will want to end their stay in the league. And in the last round, the confrontation still remains with Getafe, who did not lose after the arrival of Jose Bordalas in the last two matches, and in the last round, by defeating Betis in Seville, he greatly improved his position in the table. .

Vinicius offended

Villarreal had the wind in its sails. The Yellow Submarine players are undefeated in six matches, and have won the last three matches for their favour. Nicholas Jackson dazzles with his stunning look. The 21-year-old Senegalese has scored eight goals and provided two assists in his last six matches. It will be very difficult to keep him at the club for another season, as already in the winter transfer window Premier League clubs have made offers for him.

Unfortunately, in recent days there has been more talk than football about the racist behavior of Valencia fans in the match against Real Madrid. Vinicius Jr. was the victim again, and we never want to see the scenes we saw in Mestalla again in any sports facilities. Carlo Ancelotti did not want to talk about football after the match, and people from all over the world showed their support for Vinny – athletes, politicians and artists. Before the match against Rayo, all Real Madrid players wore jersey number 20, and a banner hung in the stands: “We are all Vinicius, enough!”

Real Madrid team before the match against Rayo Vallecano. Fans and players supported Vinicius Jr (Photo: ZUMA/Newspix.pl/newsix.pl)

The footballer himself spoke out forcefully on social media about the whole situation, calling Spain the country of racists. Javier Tebas, the president of LaLiga, reacted forcefully to this, but it does not change the problem he has to deal with. This is not the first case of this kind, and such situations overshadow the Games in Spain. However, the police in Valencia started to act aggressively and several fans who had screamed from the stands were arrested, and the club announced that they would be banned from the stadium for life.

Anyway, Vinicius has been making headlines for the past week. The Brazilian was shown a red card in the match against Valencia for hitting Hugo Duro in the face. However, the competition committee rescinded the red card, stating that the footage shown to the referee was taken out of context and that he could not judge the situation well. This decision puts the jury in a bad position. But I guess we’re used to that now.

Bye Alba

A few more words about Barcelona, or rather, another farewell. Jordi Alba at the end of the season, after 11 years and as many as 18 titles won, decided not to continue his career with the Catalan club. After Sergio Busquets, this is another Blaugrana captain ending his career at Camp Nou. The player’s contract remained until the end of the 2023/24 season, but he has reached an agreement to terminate it now. Practically the entire season, Jordi Alba was losing to Alejandro Balde and was not in Xavi’s plans for the next season. But more than 400 matches in the colors of Barcelona, 27 goals and as many as 99 assists should arouse great respect. Will we see Alba, Busquets and Leo Messi together in Saudi Arabia? We’ll have to wait a while for the answer.