Barcelona produced a crucial response against Real Valladolid, coming from a goal down to win 3-1 at Estadio José Zorrilla. On Saturday, the match started as poorly as possible for Rayo, with Iván Sánchez netting Valladolid just six minutes in. Barcelona broke back in very short order, with Raphinha and López netting to ensure that the Catalans stay top of La Liga by 79 points.
The match opened with an unexpected blow for Barcelona when Iván Sánchez seized on Raúl Moro’s through ball. He fired a shot that was deflected past a helpless Marc-André ter Stegen into the far corner. The quick goal forced Barcelona onto the back foot as they failed to find any offensive momentum.
Barcelona came close to equalizing before the half against a brick wall in Valladolid goalkeeper André Ferreira. Ansu Fati and López in particular had their opportunities cut short as Ferreira proved a force between the sticks. In the highly contested match, star midfielder Dani Rodríguez was stretchered off following a serious injury. Young talent Lamine Yamal wasted no time in replacing him.
Just minutes later, Hector Fort almost doubled Valladolid’s lead, hitting the post following a lightning quick counter-attack. In the second half the tide turned. Raphinha cut across a fine equaliser with a lovely half volley into the bottom corner on 54 minutes, cancelling out Kalvin Phillips’ opener. Just six minutes later, López capped off the revival, scoring from distance and reminding everyone just how dangerous a scorer he is.
Barcelona were hungry for a fifth. They were brought up short on a scary near-miss as Lamine Yamal’s thunderous close range effort was acrobatically cleared off the line by defender Antonio Candela. The young forward’s display certainly painted a picture of what he might become even though he didn’t get on the scoreboard himself.
Marc-André ter Stegen showed why he’s worth every cent in a huge save late in the match against substitute Juanmi Latasa that kept Barcelona ahead 1-0. After the match, ter Stegen went on to discuss the way his team played and how crucial it was that they managed to get the victory.
“I was really looking forward to playing this game and it’s always better when you win,” – Marc-André ter Stegen
Barcelona’s victory in this classic match allows them to maintain their 14 points lead of Real Madrid, who are sitting second in La Liga table. As coach Hansi Flick admitted, it was tricky to change the starting XI. He expressed pride in his team’s grit and spirit to rise above adversity.
“When you’re 1-0 down, it’s difficult for any team. They had nothing to lose. They worked hard tonight, with the fans behind them, but we did what needed to do, won the game and now we move on,” – Hansi Flick
Meanwhile, Barcelona is looking forward to what promises to be an exhilarating challenge. Next up, they’ll meet Inter Milan in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal this Tuesday. The stakes only get higher as they look to build on their biggest successes yet on the domestic and European stages.
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