BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Barcelona were on the brink of crisis after Bayern Munich crushed their reputation in a historic 8-2 defeat that even led Lionel Messi to his time to leave his club.
But less than two months after that defeat in the Champions League, a new coach with strong pictorial ethics and an 18th striker have injected new optimism into Camp Nou.
Ansu Fati’s three goals in two victories gave Barcelona an ideal start in the Spanish league. In addition to 3 pre-season victories, Barcelona appears to be on its way back.
Fati, who will turn 18 on 31 October, scored two goals and received a penalty to lead Villarreal’s 4-0 goal in Barcelona’s first match last weekend. allow 10 Barcelona players to win 3-0 in a rainy Celta de Vigo on Thursday.
The clever effects seem to have helped calm Messi down after an era of incredibly tense feuds with the club’s leaders. Messi was blocked in his attempt to leave the club in August. After complaining about his remedy through the club, Messi replaced his tact on Wednesday through asking for “unity” and apologizing enthusiasts for the suffering of hearing that his idol wanted to leave.
Barcelona will have another smart control on Sunday when they come to Sevilla: Julen Lopetegui’s team is at the top after winning the Europa League in August. He also won his first two La Liga games after blowing the European Super Cup against Bayern.
Delighted with his signing for Barcelona, manager Ronald Koeman said that after Thursday’s relentless victory he did not expect such a quick change, for an aspect that had been partly dismantled after leaving the League. Champions.
But the Dutch technician can hide his satisfaction after the victory in Vigo, where Barcelona had not won in his last five visits. Barcelona dug deep after wasting Clement Lenglet in a reserve moment before halftime and added two more goals in a racheado typhoon that hit the Balaodos del Celta stadium.
“I’m proud of the way the team played in that match,” Koeman said. “The team is in a much better way than we would have expected. We won the two games we played, scored 7 goals, didn’t fit one. “, we still want some things, but I’m very satisfied so far.
Koeman emphasized the message “you play as you train” to underline the importance of having your players as compatibility as possible. Barcelona had given the impression of being physically exhausted at the end of the campaigns in recent seasons, all of which resulted in large losses. in the champions league round of eight.
Even Philippe Coutinho seems like a different player to the one who turned the field for a season and a role before being loaned to Bayern. Instead of betting on the left as in his first stage at Barcelona, Coutinho now thrives as a central. Betting Messi acting like the “fake nine” of the team.
However, the club’s disorders are not over. Messi has not yet said whether he will extend his contract before it expires in June. Even more urgent for the club’s president, Josep Bartomeu and his board of directors, is the distrust movement that an organization of Angry Club members has decided to overthrow them in a referendum that will likely take a position in the coming weeks.
Technical director Ramón Planes on offer on Friday, when he brought US right-back Sergio Dest, who hopes to make his debut against Sevilla.
Planes is tasked with helping bring Dest, midfielder Miralem Pjanic and young strikers Pedro “Pedri” González and Francisco Trinco as he gets rid of Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Nelson Semedo, Ivan Rakitic and Arthur as components of the team’s redesign.
“There is no more wonderful example (of the team’s change of course) than yesterday’s game,” Planes said. “You saw a team with a wonderful team spirit and who worked hard in very difficult conditions. Football is the day-to-day life. Today we will have to think that we have reversed this scenario and that we are on the hunt for a long hopeful path for Barca that we have built in recent weeks.
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