By Darwin Largo
Barcelona had a great week. They got two 5-0 victories showing great performances. The first one was against Real Betis last weekend in La Liga and the second one against Royal Antwerp, in the Champions League group H debut.
That is why they went into this Saturday's match against Celta with the confidence of knowing that they are in a great moment and that, should they show the same level as in previous matches, they can compete with any opponent. The objective this time was to win in order to become leaders of the Spanish league standings, as Real Madrid will have a difficult match on Sunday against Atlético Madrid.
However, things did not go as expected. In the first half, Los Blaugranas did not perform well and were outplayed by Celta, who were very solid defensively and when they had the ball they handled it intelligently. In that scenario, Iago Aspas came close to scoring the opener with a left-footed shot that goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen managed to deflect away.
But a few minutes later, in the 19th minute, the visitors netted the first goal. Midfielder Fran Beltrán fought for the ball with Jules Koundé and managed to win possession for Jorgen Strand Larsen. The Norwegian striker got into the box and, while falling to the ground, shot with his right foot and put the ball next to the far post, preventing goalkeeper Ter Stegen from reacting.
Barcelona went into halftime trailing 1-0 against Celta in Montjuic and showing a performance that was far from satisfying Xavi Hernandez. But that's not the worst of it, as the coach also had another problem: Frenkie De Jong was injured. The Dutch midfielder had to be replaced after 35 minutes of the first half due to a physical problem and Gavi came on in his place.
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