Trailing 2-0 in the 80th minute, Barcelona eliminated Celta Vigo at home on Saturday in the sixth round of La Liga thanks to a late goal from Joao Cancelo and a brace from Lewandowski, to take top spot in the tournament.
Catalonia coach Xavi Hernandez told Movistar+: “We believed in it until the end. (…) It is an amazing comeback, full of will and desire.” “When you don’t play well, you have to outdo yourself and win.”
Awaiting the Madrid derby on Sunday between Real Madrid and Atletico, Barcelona will snatch first place from its Catalan neighbor Girona, which previously won 5-3 over Mallorca and is putting pressure on Real Madrid.
Full of confidence after two convincing 5-0 victories over Betis Sevilla in the league and Antwerp in the Champions League, Barcelona wanted to continue their momentum but were quickly brought back down to earth by Celta Vigo, who had long believed they had made the perfect move.
The first warning regarding the Catalan goal came from Iago Aspas, who shot a falling ball with the left at Ter Stegen, but the German goalkeeper narrowly pushed it over the crossbar (minute 18).
In the corner that followed, Barcelona’s defense had difficulty clearing the ball and was in a poor position, allowing the Galicians the opportunity to open the scoring.
Joao Cancelo had already started to counterattack, abandoning his right run, and Jules Kounde, a little behind, was too short to interrupt the race of de la Torre, the serve of the American Strand Larsen, who adjusted Ter Stegen with his flat foot (19th). , 1-0).
Trap scenario
This goal woke up Xavi’s men, who tried to find rhythm in their attacks. At the end of the first collective attack, Joao Felix shot hard without succeeding in scoring (23rd place).
But the Catalans confronted Celta’s two compact lines, which completely prevented Barcelona’s passes inside.
Without a save from Oriol Romeu, who threw himself into the area in front of De La Torre, the Galicians could have pushed their opponents a little further (28th).
Like Felix (28) and Alonso (30), Xavi’s men lacked precision and their movements were too predictable to fool an alert opposition defence. The Spanish full-back still provided Barcelona with the first shot on target in the 38th minute, with Villar heading the ball without any problem.
But it was Celta who almost opened the scoring, as De La Torre missed the goal after blocking Ter Stegen’s shot with a header from Larsen (41). Unrecognizable, Barcelona returned to the dressing room under the whistles of the Olympic Stadium.
To respond, Xavi had to take off Frenkie de Jong, who appeared to be struggling with a knee injury, and made two more changes, with Ronald Araujo and Lamine Yamal replacing Oriol Romeu and Marcos Alonso.
– Lewandowski strikes again –
Ferran Torres, who has remained transparent so far, had two opportunities to equalize, but he lacked realism (64, 67). As they pressed for a comeback, the Blaugrana found themselves and presented a new opportunity for the Galicians to counter-attack. Iago Aspas fired Dovikas, who did not waste this new opportunity, to win face-to-face over Ter Stegen with a cross shot from the left side (76, 2-0).
Feeling proud, the Catalans finally discovered the mistake, as Joao Felix was able to pass a stinging ball to Lewandowski, and the Pole expected Villar to come out to shoot the ball better and revive Barcelona (81st, 2-1).
Lewandowski equalized again with his flat right foot after Cancelo’s cross (86, 2-2), before the Portuguese blew up the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium with a perfect cross from Gavi at the top of the post to give victory to his new team. Club (89, 3-2).
Interim leader Thanks to this sixth consecutive success in all competitions, Barcelona travels to Mallorca on Tuesday to maintain the pace of this champion.
