Araujo unleashes the madness of a torn Barça

BarcelonaA frayed, fractured Barça, weak in defense and lacking ideas in attack, saved the day against Girona thanks to a shot with his foot, but that could have been with his heart, from Ronald Araujo in stoppage time (2-1). The avalanche of injuries shakes a team that has a lot of homework to do, but that manages to return to winning ways in La Liga after having been stripped bare in Seville before the international break. The drab version of Flick's Barça continues, but the comeback against Girona allows them to breathe a little before hosting Olympiacos on Tuesday and visiting the Santiago Bernabéu next Sunday. Pedri had started the scoring and Witsel had equalized. Hansi Flick was sent off after Gil Manzano, who unnerved the Blaugranas.

In contrast to the timid and quiet start of the fans at Montjuïc, Barça started with a bang. The first applause would come to Rashford, with a powerful, centered free kick that wouldn't trouble Gazzinaga, and to Lamine Yamal, who beat his defender with a first-touch dive and launched a diagonal shot that ended with a deflected shot. Little by little, it seemed as if the fans were waking up from their nap, while Barça dominated overwhelmingly. Marc Casadó, returning to the starting lineup, took charge of lining up among the center backs, swapping positions with Pedri. The Canary Islander was, as usual, the Catalans' guiding light, while without Dani Olmo and with Fermín recovering from injury, the midfielder closest to playing center was De Jong.

Barça began to pin down an overmatched Girona in their own area, and it wouldn't take even a quarter of an hour for the Blaugranas to open the scoring. A high press from a Kounde that was becoming increasingly worrying ended with the Frenchman linking up with Pedri, who then with Lamine Yamal, who returned the ball to the number 8 to drive through the Girona area as if it were his home and send a soft but precise shot that would graze the post before becoming the first goal. Flick's men seemed ready to put the criticism behind them with a great start to the match, but everything would turn around like a sock for the Blaugrana. Girona went from being a rival that seemed like they would come out scalded from Montjuïc to becoming a tough opponent against a Barça that would increasingly fade away, especially after the Girona side's draw.

Míchel's men began to stick their heads out of the woodwork thanks to a couple of excursions by the young Joel Roca, with a past in the Blaugrana academy and the only Girona player in the red-and-white squad. A corner kick he drew—although Kounde appealed for handball because the ball hit Roca's arm, but Gil Manzano didn't consider it sufficient—ended with Witsel scoring a superb goal, half overhead kick, half scissor kick. The tie disoriented the Blaugranas, who would accumulate a couple of dangerous losses in the following minutes that would lead to counterattacks. In the first, troubled by Cubarsí, Vanat—surely in an offside position—found himself faced with a good save from Szczesny. In the next, almost immediately after, Eric chased down Portu, who ended up shooting against the post after the Blaugrana goalkeeper managed to crucially deflect the shot. Barça would react with a shot from De Jong that would be met with a great save from Gazzaniga.

With the score tied, the game would become an exchange of blows. Rasfhord would send a stinging free kick off the crossbar—again. Of the three up front, only Toni Fernández, who was again substituted due to the absences of Ferran and Lewandowski, was left looking for the net. The hard-working reserve player, in fact, had set up De Jong for the Dutchman's clearest chance, and he was eager to break away and play quickly to his teammates, but he lacked bite in the face of the barracks. Like against PSG, Barça began to unravel from a good opening few minutes, and Girona's attackers found the back of the defense with ease. The big difference was that the Parisians' forward line is more talented than Girona's, and Bryan Gil, first, and Witsel, later, sent two clear shots wide before halftime and the start of heavy rain on Montjuïc.

Barça closed the first half exhibiting a weakness that is especially worrying just a week before visiting the Bernabéu. After the restart, Fermín came to the rescue and his electricity was soon to emerge, firing a pair of shots, the second hitting the post, to inspire his teammates. De Jong also had a clear chance, but his shot was very poor from the heart of the box. Flick's team, lacking any control, threatened, and the feeling was that they would eventually win through persistence, but they remained a weak team against which Girona could activate counterattacks. Roca almost found the net after a mistake by Kounde, but Szczesny was once again providential.

Cubarsí would finally find the goal, but Gil Manazo—a usual suspect against the Catalans and booed at Montjuïc—would disallow it, considering a prior foul by Eric. Flick's men were struggling with their own ineffectiveness and the refereeing decisions. Gazzaniga continued to make it impossible for Rashford to score, who would play as a number 9 after Fermín's substitution. The British player's chance would come without the heavyweights on the pitch: at the hour mark, Flick—due to load management—rested Pedri for Lamine Yamal, and Christensen and Roony came on. The Englishman would once again be the protagonist, because he claimed a penalty, but the contact was outside the area and Gil Manzano refused to whistle or call a foul in favor of Barça. Time passed and Barça faded, soft at the back and lacking ideas up front, with Araujo as an emergency striker in the final minutes. Amid the fans' frenzied nerves, the invention would eventually work. Araujo would unleash euphoria, but there's still a lot of work to be done.