It was a tough defeat for RC Celta, who saw in the last moments of the match, FC Barcelona snatch the victory and retain the three points at home. The sky-blue team took to the field of the Estadio Olímpico Lluís Companys to deliver a solid first half. A well-positioned team could be seen, strong defensively and dangerous in attack. A high-level Celta had multiple chances to take the lead against a Barça that was not quite comfortable. In the 19th minute, Strand Larsen received a ball that, after a good cross shot, entered Ter Stegen’s goal to score the first for the celestes. The Norwegian international celebrated his second goal of the season, which not only gave his team the lead but also boosted their morale for the upcoming minutes.
Opportunities like the one Iago Aspas had in the opponent’s area, where the captain masterfully shot it, and Ter Stegen deflected it to a corner, or Larsen’s header that the blaugrana goalkeeper rejected and Luca de la Torre failed to finish, meant RC Celta went into halftime with a minimal lead. With the start of the second half, Xavi Hernández reorganized his team to display a much more offensive lineup, but the team led by Rafa Benítez remained true to their game and continued the good performance they had been showing since the start of a still very lively match.
Both teams worked hard and fought to find the net. Araujo had a dangerous shot from outside the box towards Iván Villar’s goal, but Aldán’s player firmly rejected it, preserving the score for his team. Minutes later, as we entered the final stretch of a match that far from calming down became more frenetic, a genuine team play led to Celta’s second goal. Mingueza stole the ball in the celeste area for Bamba, who passed it to Aspas, and the captain passed it to Douvikas, who impressively adjusted it to the top corner to score his first goal in La Liga EA Sports.
However, Celta doubled their lead against an FC Barcelona that was not ready to give up or suffer their first defeat of the season. Eight minutes were enough for the blaugranas to turn the score around. Led by Lewandowski, who scored twice in four minutes, they not only managed to tie the game, but a goal by Cancelo in the 89th minute snatched the victory from Celta, who saw their dream fade away. The team led by Rafa Benítez will have to wait until next Thursday, 28th of September, to try to recover and seek a new victory. This time, they will face Deportivo Alavés at Abanca Balaídos at 7:00 pm.
Technical Data:
- FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Cancelo, Jules Koundé, A. Christensen (Álex Balde, min. 60), Marcos Alonso (R. Araujo, min. 46); Gündogan, Oriol Romeu (Lamine Yamal, min. 46), F. De Jong (Gavi, min. 36); Ferran Torres (Raphinha, min. 72), Joao Félix, and Lewandowski.
- RC Celta: Iván Villar; Ó. Mingueza, Unai Núñez (Carlos Dotor, min. 94), Carl Starfelt, Carlos Domínguez, Mihailo Ristic; J. Bamba (Miguel Rodríguez, min. 94), Fran Beltrán, Luca de la Torre; Iago Aspas (Williot Swedberg, min. 78) and Strand Larsen (Tasos Douvikas, 66).
- Goals: 0-1 Strand Larsen (min. 19); 0-2 Tasos Douvikas (min. 76); 1-2 Lewandowski (min. 81); 2-2 Lewandowski (min. 85); 3-2 J. Cancelo (min. 89)
- Referee: Melero López. Yellow cards were shown to Unai Núñez and, for FC Barcelona, Christensen and Gavi.
- Notes: Match corresponding to the sixth round of LaLiga EA Sports played at the Estadio Olímpico Lluís Companys.
