Barça returned to the Liga thread, a guaranteed tournament lately for the *azulgranas*, after losing the Champions League train, which has become a *culé* obsession since the last success achieved in 2015. Flick’s team has won all 17 Spanish championship matches they have played at Camp Nou. The latest victory was against Celta after a very hard-fought match conditioned by Lamine’s injury. The number 10 got injured after forcing and converting the penalty that gave Barcelona the victory. Pending the medical report, the winger may not arrive in time for the *Clásico* on the 10th and who knows if he will reappear before the end of the Liga.
Although they have never been a speculative or calculating team, the Barcelona players applied themselves to managing Lamine’s goal against a very intimidating opponent due to their excellent football display, such as Celta. Maintaining the nine-point cushion over Real Madrid with six matchdays remaining allows them to relativize Lamine’s ailment somewhat before facing Getafe and Osasuna and awaiting the *Clásico* at Camp Nou.
There is no truce in the matches between Barça and Celta due to Flick’s and Giráldez’s offensive vocation. The start of the last one was dizzying because after 48 seconds two chances had already occurred: Lamine shot to the outside of Radu’s left post and Joan García saved a shot from Pablo Durán with a superb intervention. The exchange of blows, however, lasted very little because Celta soon denied Barcelona.
The *azulgranas* did not know how to be or compete without the ball, very permeable on the flanks and vulnerable to deep passes behind the central defenders, and when they had the ball they could not find spaces for interior play, with the forwards too crowded on the defenders arranged by Giráldez. The Barcelona players did not adjust distances well, too scattered on the field, and could not find a way to control the match due to passing inaccuracies, very dependent on Lamine. The *azulgrana* luck was at the mercy of the number 10’s imbalance.
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And Lamine resolved when Celta attacked and defended much better than Barça on a very unpleasant night due to the blizzard sweeping Camp Nou. The winger leaned on Olmo to face Lago and force a penalty to the relief of the Barça fans. Lamine shot hard, low and across from eleven meters to secure the shot and beat Radu. His leg cramped from the impact and the forward collapsed, without celebrating the goal, substituted by Roony after Balde had already come on for the also injured Cancelo. The game was stopped for a long time after Lamine’s withdrawal so that medical services could attend to a fan in the stadium stands.
Barça had been impacted by Lamine’s fall and Celta saw their excellent performance interrupted by the 1-0. Flick intervened at halftime with a decisive third change: Fermín replaced an inaccurate Gavi. The *azulgranas* extended their possessions, began to govern the contest and at times subjected Celta. The offside line disallowed Ferran’s volley goal by centimeters after a masterful touch from Pedri in Barça’s best moment. The play woke up Celta. Giraldez loaded the attack with Aspas and Borja Iglesias and the *azulgranas* had to apply themselves to ball retention, managing time and not conceding opportunities, aware that the Liga is won every matchday until 38 are counted. The *azulgrana* exercise of responsibility ended up validating the goal that Lamine created and scored.
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| Standings | PTS | P | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 82 | 32 | 27 | 1 | 4 |
2 | 73 | 32 | 23 | 4 | 5 |
3 | 61 | 31 | 19 | 4 | 8 |
4 | 57 | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 |
5 | 49 | 32 | 12 | 13 | 7 |
| Standings | PTS | P | W | D | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 49 | 32 | 12 | 13 | 7 |
6 | 44 | 32 | 13 | 5 | 14 |
| 7 | 44 | 32 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
8 | 42 | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 |
9 | 41 | 32 | 12 | 5 | 15 |
