RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Barcelona continued their preseason preparations with a friendly against FC Basel at St. Jakob-Park in Switzerland on Sunday afternoon, and the Catalans were in full control and won 5-2 thanks to goals from Karim Adeyemi, Hamza Abdelkarim, Lamine Yamal and a brace by Jesse Bisiwu. The game was fully dominated by Hansi Flick’s side, who played some really good offense and showcased a more dynamic and positionally fluid attack that overwhelmed the Basel defense.
Reactions & Observations
Hansi Flick’s starting XI had a few changes from the expected shape: Eric Garcia played at right-back instead of midfield, Xavi Espart played in midfield instead of right-back, and Anthony Gordon played on the left wing with Raphinha as the striker.
It was a true 4-3-3 shape instead of Flick’s usual 4-2-3-1, with Marc Bernal as a single pivot and Espart and Fermín playing as number 8’s in front of him. Is Flick preparing his team for Rodri’s arrival?
Barça had all of the ball in the first 25 minutes, and Anthony Gordon really stood out. He was direct and dangerous on the wing and his movements were really sharp, and Barça’s best moves early on all came when he was involved.
Teenager Xavi Espart is a natural midfielder, and you could tell by how comfortable he was with the ball in the middle and just how good he looked at reading and attacking spaces in central areas. He provided a solid outlet option for Bernal in the buildup phase, and always seemed to be in the right place at the right time.
Basel finally started to offer some threat around the half-hour mark with two or three counter-attacks in behind Barça’s high line, but Joan Garcia was never asked to make a true save.
Barça eventually translated their dominance into a lead thanks to a great assist by Raphinha and a really good goal from Karim Adeyemi, who opened his Barça account in impressive fashion with a powerful finish inside the box.
The Catalans had a solid defensive half but had a poor breakdown that led to a goal from Doucouré as the hosts equalized.
Barça had more chances to retake the lead but couldn’t find the net a second time before the break, but Flick still had plenty to be excited about at halftime: Barça were quick, sharp, creative and really fluid in attack, Gordon and Adeyemi both played very well, and Raphinha looked really good as a false nine.
Flick made four changes at the break and one of them was Hamza Abdelkarim, who scored with his first touch with an instinctive striker’s finish after a cross from Adeyemi to restore Barça’s lead just four minutes into the final period.
The Blaugrana remained the dominant side and continued to have plenty of joy down the left wing, and Raphinha had a few more good chances but just couldn’t find the net on the afternoon.
Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Jules Kounde and Pau Cubarsí all made their first preseason appearances in the final half-hour, and youngsters Brian Fariñas, Ebrima Tunkara and Jesse Bisiwu also had their chances towards the end.
Yamal was quiet and mostly interested in breaking a good sweat, but he still had the chance to find the net as Jules Kounde was taken out in the box and Lamine scored a really good penalty to make it 3-1 Barça with 10 minutes to go.
Basel were given a penalty themselves shortly after Yamal’s goal when a clear dive in the box somehow fooled the referee, and Olaigbe made it 3-2 from the spot, but we were not even close to done yet.
The dying minutes became the Jesse Bisiwu show as the young Belgian scored twice: the first was a fantastic finish with a curler into the top corner, and the second came thanks to Lamine Yamal who won the ball inside the Basel box and gave Bisiwu a tap-in.
The final whistle came to end a very fun and impressive win by the Catalans, who played a really good attacking game and could have easily scored more than just the five they got on the afternoon.
The attack was fluid and tactically different than we’ve seen from Hansi Flick’s first two seasons, and the need for a number nine might not be quite as urgent as we thought.
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