Barcelona say goodbye to the Champions League with a smile
The Catalan team, with many rotations, beat Viktoria Plzen 2-4 with Pablo Torre’s scoring debut
MADRID, 1 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
FC Barcelona said goodbye this Tuesday to its participation in the 2022-2023 Champions League with its second victory in the group stage, again against the Czech Viktoria Plzen, whom it defeated at home by 2-4, in a match where Xavi Hernández opted for the rotations and the quarry and in which the young Pablo Torre made his debut as a scorer.
The procedure on Czech soil was solved without great difficulty by the Blaugrana team, who will now park their European aspirations until 2023, enough time to rearm and get excited about the Europa League again. Despite not having some of his most regular starters, his superiority was enough for the Catalan team, although he did not escape that defensive fragility that has punished him in Europe and that gave life to the locals.
Xavi opted for a very renovated eleven, with ownership for Pablo Torre, for the substitute goalkeeper Iñaki Peña and also for Ansu Fati, who could not take advantage of the low intensity of the duel to see the door and increase his confidence and that of Luis Enrique Martínez of in order to earn a place on the list for the World Cup in Qatar. Yes, Ferran Torres did it with a double as ‘9’ instead of Robert Lewandowski.
Things went better for Pablo Torre in his first appearance from the start. Although his promising football could not shine too much in the face of the clash, the Cantabrian was able to savor his first goal as a FC Barcelona player, although he could not celebrate it too much due to a physical problem that forced him to leave the pitch .
His goal was 2-4 in a game that the visitors opened very soon, thanks to Marcos Alonso, who, like the young midfielder, celebrated his first goal with his new shirt, by pushing a ball that had stopped on the line of goal and that he had deprived Ansu Fati of his goal.
The 0-1 increased Barça’s initial feeling of dominance, but it didn’t overly reduce Viktoria, who gradually realized that it was a day not to be overly cautious. Chory warned that he was going to be the biggest threat and headed the crossbar, and Kalvach had another good one in the final stretch, but ran into a successful Peña.
The Catalan team had only appeared again in some danger with a distant shot from Piqué and a good option for Fati who shot too high, but went into the break with a greater advantage thanks to a goal from Ferran Torres, which culminated, with an ok from the VAR, a good collective move.
The second half was much more lively and Michal Bilek’s men wanted to join the party. A penalty from Pablo Torre allowed Chory to score quickly, just as it took Ferran Torres to boost his morale with the 1-3 after an assist from Raphinha.
In a ‘crazy’ start, Chory sneaked in between the centrals again to head the 2-3 unappealable and continue to keep the illusion intact in his stands. Pilar scared again shortly after, just when Kessié had to leave ‘touched’ and give the youth squad Marc Casado the opportunity to make his debut.
He was not the only player from La Masia who was able to debut with the first team, since Álvaro Sanz also had minutes and as replacement for Pablo Torres after the 2-4 scored by the Cantabrian, who received a good pass from Raphinha and hit high and with force, although he could no longer continue on the ground. Barça decided to totally relax and the final minutes were an unsuccessful siege by a willful Viktoria, where Jirka had the best of it with a powerful shot at the post, after a touch from Peña.
–RESULT: VIKTORIA PLZEN, 2 – FC BARCELONA, 4 (0-2, at halftime).
VIKTORIA PLZEN: Stanek; Holik, Jemelka (Havel, min.57), Pernica, Hejda; Ndiaye (Bucha, min.57) Kalvach (Cermak, min.78); Jirka, Vlkanova, Pilar (Kronus, min.88); y Chory (Bassey, min.79).
FC BARCELONA: Rock; Bellerin, Pique, Marcos Alonso, Jordi Alba (Bucket, min.,57); Gavi, Kessie (Marriage, min.67), Paul Tower (Sanz, min.77); Raphinha (Dembélé, min.77), Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
0-1, minute 6. Marcos Alonso.
0-2, minute 44. Ferran Torres.
1-2, minuto 51. Sick, de penalti.
1-3, minute 54. Ferran Torres.
2-3 minutes, 63 minutes. Sick.
2-4, minute 75. Pablo Torre.
–REFEREE: Radu Petrescu (RUM). He booked Ndiaye (min.47), for Viktoria Plzen, and Gavi (min.42), Pablo Torre (min.49), Ferran Torres (min.92), for FC Barcelona.
–ESTADIUM: Stadium of the city of Pilsen.
