Losing La Liga in the offices would be too ugly: Barça vs. Villarreal's hot takes

BarcelonaBarça lost to Villarreal (2-3) in the final match of the season at Montjuïc. Here are some quick notes.

Losing the League in the offices. Despite celebrating La Liga as they deserved, Barça made few rotations in the theoretical match against Villarreal. Flick didn't start Ansu Fati, Héctor Fort, or Pau Víctor, all of whom are unusual. Only De Jong, Balde, and Olmo rotated in relation to the derby. Maybe I'm being sour grapes, but I like to think the German is an old fart and wanted to play it cool to maintain a minimum three-point lead over Madrid after the last matchday (it's now four with three still to play for). The explanation is simple: Osasuna's complaint about the alleged improper fielding of Iñigo Martínez hasn't yet been overturned everywhere. The TAD (Spanish Football Association) is still pending. We have to win at San Mamés. Just in case.

Whatever he wants. The season is about to end, and it has a clear star: Lamine Yamal. It's true that Flick's playbook has brought triumph to a squad that had been generating doubts due to its imbalance, but the smile on the Barcelona fans' faces—now and in the coming decades—depends above all on Rocafonda's prodigy, on his desire to transcend. He just had a spectacular knockout tie against Inter, and only Dembélé—what a sight—can take the Ballon d'Or from him if PSG wins the Champions League. But far from relaxing, a few days ago he won the La Liga title with a stunning goal in the derby and put on another show against Villarreal, complete with a donut in the net. No one can stop him. Will there be bib vending machines at the new Camp Nou?

A treasure for that team. He started the season as an experimental replacement in central midfield, continued as an occasional center back, and is finishing it with tremendous performances at right back. He's not the fastest, strongest, or tallest. He also doesn't have the glamour of his tattooed teammates; he gets his hair done weekly at the most expensive barbershops. fashion And they fill Instagram with clips from a privileged private life. No, Eric Garcia is just a footballer. But he's good. He was on the verge of leaving for Girona or Como in the winter transfer window, and now he's aiming for a long career at the club that signed him as a junior and which he left to receive advice from Guardiola.

Stopping some is important. That Barça has been in a tight spot at the end of the season is clear from one statistic: since the Copa del Rey final, the goals conceded tally has been skyrocketing. Only in Thursday's derby did the Blaugrana keep a clean sheet. In these last seven matches, including the Villarreal game, the average has been 2.3 goals conceded. This trend, offset by excellent offensive performances, has intensified since Ter Stegen poked his head in. When the captain sang "I'm here now," Szczesny's performances coincidentally began to decline. With the league title in the bag, the German started against Villarreal and conceded three goals in three shots from the Yellows.