The tireless Lewandowski continues to bring joy to Barça

BarcelonaThe week a young 18-year-old like Lamine was on the verge of winning the Ballon d'Or, two veterans were at it at the Carlos Tartiere stadium. Barça broke the resistance of a strong Oviedo side, where Cazorla, 40, was shining, thanks to a beautiful header from 36-year-old Robert Lewandowski. The veteran Polish striker, a substitute behind Ferran, dominates the game inside the box like few others. He feels good, surrounded by defenders who catch and chase him. It seems that when he's a grandfather and uses a walking stick, he'll still know how to finish crosses from the outside. His header is one youngsters should learn from, with a precise flight and a round turn of the head.

An important goal, because a miss meant losing sight of Madrid. They had to win in an awkward match. Barça is experiencing a different reality than their rivals. The Barça routine contrasts with the exceptional circumstances experienced by opponents when they host Flick's team. Rivals who mark the date of their visit in red. As had happened in Newcastle, in Oviedo they had been waiting more than twenty years to see Barça at home again. Years and years of waiting explained the overexcitement of their home players, supported by a stadium from which everyone returns home hoarse.

And at times it seemed that Barça was struggling to get into the game. In Oviedo, Lamine Yamal was missed a little. It was time to face an opponent who clings like a tick, sweating profusely, biting ankles, and celebrating corners as if they were goals. As in Newcastle, the game was difficult to control. Flick, to protect all his players, had made several changes, with Marc Casadó starting in midfield alongside Pedri and a lackluster Dani Olmo. It wasn't a good performance for Casadó, who ended up being substituted at halftime by a sullen-looking Flick. Oviedo had started with the veteran Santi Cazorla, 40, in the starting lineup. One of the best midfielders of recent decades, playing alongside Pedri, almost twice his age. Two excellent players from different generations fighting for possession. Barça had more of it, but Oviedo knew how to attack down the flanks with the mischievous Hasan. And they knew how to punish Joan Garcia's first mistake this season.

A clueless goalkeeper

A goalkeeper so reliable that he never makes a mistake between the posts. This time, he didn't understand what to do in one of those plays where Flick asked him to leave the box to win a ball sent behind the center backs. Sallent did just that, but instead of shooting wide, he controlled it. He trusts his feet so much that he didn't want to send it into the stands and tried to get it to Pedri with a tricky pass that went straight to Reina's feet. And the Andalusian didn't waste the opportunity to score a goal he'll never forget, almost from the center of the field, with a shot curled toward a goal where the goalkeeper was missing.

The goal came just after two very clear chances in which Barça had missed the target. Marcus Rashford tried his luck with individual plays in an attack without Lewandowski. Flick continued to rely more on Ferran Torres, who continues to grow, with greater confidence. Without the Valencian, the equalizer wouldn't have happened, because in the 56th minute, he pounced on Araujo's cross with a beautiful individual move. Escandell, increasingly working, denied him, but Eric Garcia was in the position to equalize. The Martorell defender doesn't score much, but he has the gift of scoring important goals, as in the Copa del Rey final or at San Siro. And scoring the equalizer was vital for Flick's disciples. With half an hour left to play, Oviedo already knew the game would be longer and more frustrating than waiting for a commuter train to Catalunya.

With De Jong in the middle of the field, the match became a Barça monologue. As in Newcastle, the home side's enthusiasm had caused Barça to suffer in the first half, but then quality prevailed. The second was needed. And Lewandowski, who makes the most of his limited playing time, scored. Flick brought him on to play near Ferran, and it worked. His header ended Oviedo's dreams, as they searched for an equalizer without luck and ended up conceding the third with a fine header from Araujo, who was following the path opened by Lewandowski. A player who wants to create problems for Flick: he wants to be a starter. Those problems that, deep down, are what coaches like.