Hit on the table
The important thing is health. And as the Champions diagnoses, this week we can sleep peacefully: the League is healthy. With some unexpected good news. Barça, terminally ill not so long ago, appeared fresh in Paris. It was in a hostile stadium, against a team that renews its European ambition every year and with the best player in the world as a threat. Barça arrived with the cross of its last years in the Champions League, with the burden of a turbulent season due to football irregularities and with Xavi feeling persecuted by humanity. To be in tune with the noise of recent months, Luis Enrique launched an identity challenge proclaiming himself champion of the style. All very entertaining, as the times demand, like the hug from the coaches before starting the battle. But the ball does not like to beat around the bush and handed down the sentence in ninety splendid minutes.
Veterans and newcomers Barça section
Barça looked self-conscious and adult from minute one. Solid at the back, elastic in the middle and brilliant at the top with Lewandowski and Raphinha starring in an unexpected dialogue: the first created and the second finished. But as the heroes taught us, every act of redemption requires great dangers to overcome. PSG came out in the second half pushing the accelerator to the floor to neutralize Barça’s advantage and in two furious minutes the result turned around. These football storms are difficult to contain, but Barça moved the bench, the ball and the result with two goals (3 to 2) that reversed the prediction of the tie. But much more than that: perception finally opens an optimistic cycle with carefree young people and committed veterans. The style seems to have understood that the ball is very fun when you have it, but very sacrificed when you lose it.
They are not footballers, they are heroes
Between Real Madrid and City, a match was not expected, but THE match. And football came out stronger, as always when talented players are enriched by the ideas of ambitious coaches. Lively game, full of alternatives, clean and with two teams wanting to win from start to finish. City controlled and Madrid accelerated and, as for the result, it was not always consistent with the moments of merit of each. However, the final result did tell the truth because the scoring display implicit in the 3-3 score did justice to the spectacle. We talk more and more about pressure (high, medium, low) and we demand more energy from the players while forcing them to play five games in fifteen days. And we are disappointed when Haaland is not Haaland, Mbappé is not Mbappé or Bellingham is not Bellingham. They do too much with standing.
The moment of truth
Atlético, under the protection of the Metropolitano, came out to make their status as favorites weigh and, with all the pressure, made a difference in the game and on the scoreboard (2 to 0) that seemed unattainable for a shrunken and confused Dortmund. But Atlético’s withdrawal gave new life to a technically well-equipped rival, who sparked the comeback with a goal that adjusted the tie (2 to 1). Signal Iduna Park awaits Atlético, one of the most demanding stadiums in the world. It’s time to shuffle and give again. Each of our representatives will go out to seek their luck armed with their historical burden: Atlético with its resistance to suffering, Madrid with its taste for the impossible and Barça with the flag of style. Wait for a new diagnosis… or the autopsy.
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