Matchday 32 of Laliga EA Sports will go down in history for having given us one of the best games of the competition so far this season. RC Celta visited the blaugrana’s home ground and offered a chameleonic version that put the leader against the ropes thanks to a hat-trick by Borja Iglesias.
The match started with a dangerous FC Barcelona that opened the scoring after 12 minutes after an individual play by Ferrán Torres that seemed to give wings to the Culés, but the Celta reaction would not take long to arrive. After three minutes, Yoel Lago headed clear a cross that was met by Pablo Durán who broke down the flank and assisted Borja Iglesias who, taking advantage of a mistake in Szczesny’s clearance, simply pushed the ball into the back of the net to bring the score back to level terms. From that moment on, the match became a real head-to-head battle between two titans of the competition who had no intention of giving in on the road to their own goals.
The second half started with the same intensity as the first had ended. RC Celta kept an orderly and well-defended game and, seven minutes later, a fast counter-attack allowed Borja Iglesias to put the sky blues ahead with a tight shot to the far post. Panda was enjoying himself on the pitch and, shortly after, he took advantage of a long throw-in by Sergio Carreira to find himself one-on-one with the rival goalkeeper and score his third goal of the afternoon and his first hat-trick in the First Division, no less than at the home of the leaders. A lead that seemed definitive and that silenced the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic but, at that moment, Hansi Flick changed his system to try to bring his team back into the game. Dani Olmo reduced the deficit in the 65th minute and Rapinha equalised with a header in the 68th minute. Two goals did not daunt Claudio Giráldez’s team, who continued to play well on the pitch, creating dangerous chances that could have turned the tie in their favour, but fortune was not on their side. Just when the game seemed to have been decided, the referee, after being alerted by the VAR, pointed to a penalty in the last minute which Rapinha converted to give FC Barcelona the victory.
Despite the defeat, RC Celta left Montjuïc with their heads held high, after standing up to the leader of the competition and having shown a real display of personality and courage on the pitch. Always proud of our players who are already preparing for what will be their next challenge in Laliga, this Wednesday at 19:00h., at Abanca Balaídos where they will receive Villarreal CF and will fight again for the three points.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
4 – FC Barcelona: Szczesny; Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Iñigo Martínez (Pau Víctor, min. 87), Gerard Martín (Eric, min. 87); Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Fermín (Dani Olmo, min. 59); Raphinha, Lewandowski (Gavi, min. 78), Ferrán Torres (Lamine Yamal, min. 59).
3 – RC Celta: Vicente Guaita; Javi Rodríguez, Yoel Lago, Marcos Alonso, Sergio Carreira; Fran Beltran, Ilaix Moriba (Hugo Sotelo, min. 89); Pablo Durán (Fer López, min. 73), Iker Losada (Óscar Mingueza, min. 46), Willot Swedberg (Alfon, min. 60); Borja Iglesias (Aspas, min. 73).
Goals: 1-0, Ferrán Torres, min. 12. 1-1, Borja Iglesias, min. 15. 1-2, Borja Iglesias, min. 52. 1-3, Borja Iglesias, min. 63. 2-3, Dani Olmo, min. 65. 3-3, Raphinha, min. 68. 4-3, Raphinha (pen.) min. 90+8.
Referee: Melero López (Andalusian Committee). For RC Celta, Iago Aspas and Fer López were yellow carded. For the home side, Raphinha and Iñigo Martínez were yellow carded too.
Incidents: Match corresponding to Matchday 32 of LALIGA EA SPORTS played at the Estadi Olímpico de Montjuic in front of 48,569 spectators. A minute’s silence was observed before kick-off for the death of the Escobar-Camprubí family.
