Barça avoids falling into Oviedo's trap and regains the lead

BarcelonaPlaying for Barça isn't easy. You're always expected to win and dazzle. You always have to win, and you can never afford to slip up. You have a bad day, like we all do, and within hours half the world is criticizing you. It's not easy defending Barça when your opponent is a Real Madrid side that, in theory, is in crisis but was top of the league on Saturday night. Madrid has always had nine lives. And that's how they put pressure on a Barça team that overcame the return of an old acquaintance, Oviedo, at the Camp Nou with a strong second half. Three goals, three points, and first place in the bag. A match that was difficult to watch at times ended with a standing ovation for Lamine Yamal, who scored one of his trademark goals, a perfectly executed strike.

Sometimes Barça creates numerous attacking opportunities and loses, as happened in San Sebastián, and other times they take all three points despite putting on a lackluster performance. The first half was particularly dreadful, but in the second half, two Asturian errors changed everything. When Dani Olmo scored the first goal, the opposing defense cracked, and Barça began to show glimpses of their best form. Not much, but they improved enough to avoid suffering until the final whistle. Olmo's goal was a release. One of those plays where, once the ball hits the back of the net, everyone feels a weight lifted from their shoulders. It was the turning point in a match that ended in a resounding victory.

But first, there was some hard work to be done. Barça was returning to the Camp Nou after a long time. After weeks of vacation, travel, a Super Cup victory, and the calling of elections. A strange return, with a kickoff time that invited a siesta and a pleasant sun that didn't hide the fact that the cold would arrive, cruelly, towards the end of the match in the form of rain. Cold days, like the match itself. Most Barça fans expected a routine game against the bottom-placed team, but that's precisely the beauty of football: it always ends up surprising us. Sometimes the surprises make you smile, and other times they leave you feeling foolish. And the Asturians, a team whose scoring touch has been lacking and who usually end matches feeling burned, found a way to turn the game into a lackluster spectacle, in which little happened, beyond Oviedo's well-calculated fouls, which were somewhat lenient with the referee.

It was supposed to be an easy afternoon of football to reclaim first place, but the minutes ticked by agonizingly. At halftime, frustratingly, Arbeloa's Real Madrid remained in first place. Barça played uncomfortably, as if stones had been placed in some players' boots—slow, angry, and lacking accuracy. Pedri's brilliance was missing, always missed. The Canary Islander watched from a stand that offered no encouragement. No chants of independence or pleas for Messi. Every now and then, someone called for the supporters' section, hoping they would do precisely what the rest of the stadium wasn't: cheer. They weren't cheering for the fans, nor for a surprisingly imprecise and disjointed team. It wasn't the best version of Flick's team, who had placed Gerard Martín at center back and the returning João Cancelo on the right wing. The Portuguese player was ineffective. A lackluster return. In midfield, Marc Casadó was running up and down the pitch, all heart, aware that he needed to seize his opportunities, but the circumstances weren't in his favor. Neither was his support, with a lackluster De Jong. No Barça player seemed to be having a good day. They all looked like generic versions of the players who usually inspire passion.

Lamine's magical moment

The result was a match to forget, with a very disciplined Oviedo side that managed to stay in the game through sheer merit. They had a plan. Not spectacular, but a plan that frustrated a Barça team in which Lamine Yamal occasionally managed to create something. Flick, looking less than pleased, made a substitution at halftime, bringing on Koundé. And the team, without improving much, at least shifted the center of play closer to the Asturian penalty area. They wanted to see if Oviedo, playing with fire because the specter of relegation haunts them, could withstand the pressure. And no, they couldn't. Two defensive errors allowed Barça to recover the ball in the opposition's area. First, Olmo scored the opener with a low, driven shot across goal, and then Raphinha, who was having an off day, found himself one-on-one with Escandell and beat him with a beautiful chip. Job done. The game was now slowing down.

With the second goal, Oviedo surrendered. All their effort had been for nothing, and Lamine Yamal took advantage, conjuring up a beautiful volley. A match as uncomfortable as a toothache was gradually turning into a celebration, with spaces opening up that Lamine Yamal exploited to score a lovely goal as the rain began to fall, emptying the still-uncovered stands. Another victory for Barça, who return to the top of the table, solid and confident, and who also managed to ensure a peaceful final few minutes as Cancelo was substituted, which provoked a certain indifference. The visit from Oviedo could have been one of those traps that leaves you feeling hurt, against the bottom-placed team, and when everyone assumed a win was a foregone conclusion. They had to win. And they did, with a final goal that will be remembered. More than the match itself, in fact.