Barcelona mercifully crushed Pumas in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
‘With mercy’ because if he had maintained the intensity from start to finish he could have subjected him to a period rout, even greater than the one he received in 1984 in the semifinal of the Boca Juniors tournament (9-1) or the 8-0 that Santos fit in 2013. It was, in any case, a Barcelona party in which the Mexican team was hardly a stone guest.
In the end, the 6-0 with which Barça thrashed León in 2014 was repeated. The difference compared to eight years ago? That León was a proud rival, inferior but not dedicated, humble but conceited and not kneeling as this Pumas demonstrated, who must have thanked, in a low voice, leaving the Camp Nou conceding half a dozen goals. In fact… They could have been a few more if the posts and the reduction of Barça intensity had not also been protagonists.
After ten minutes Xavi’s team was already winning 3-0 and 4-0 after 20. Pumas was a spectrum whose footballers, usually so dynamic, saw the ball pass without any spirit, without fighting spirit and being danced continuously. Lewandowski and Pedri, Pedri and Lewandowski, discovered a new company to encourage the Barça parish and Dembélé married Raphinha in a surprising and exciting way.
The break was reached 4-0 as it could easily have been 7-0. Two shots to the post by Raphinha and Lewandowski and two excellent rebounds by Julio Gonzalez to Dembélé and the Polish striker himself prevented the first half from ending with a scandalous result. That… And that in the last minutes of that first act the Barça players lowered the intensity and the intentions of continuing to humiliate a rival who after half an hour had already understood that the best thing that could happen was to withstand the downpour as best he could .
COLORLESS
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– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 7, 2022
Xavi shook up the lineup in the dugout and brought on seven players after the break so that the second half continued to be a true monologue. He highlighted, from the outset, the presence of Aubameyang, who came on for Dembélé and barely needed five minutes to show that he maintains his goalscoring nose to score the fifth. And with it you could see more notes to take into account.
It was seen, at least, a Pumas less innocent, less dedicated and more proud. And before it, also, to a Barça less furious in its anxiety to crush the rival. He didn’t need it, in fact, because his superiority remained incontestable from start to finish.
After scoring Aubameyang, Lewandowski grazed another goal and later Memphis, Piqué, De Jong or Ansu Fati could also score. The Dutchman did it, with physical solvency and a precise touch, in the 84th minute to round off the half-dozen and match the win that León conceded in 2014 and there were no more goals because neither was it necessary nor did Barça want to convert the thrashed in a humiliation.
If Pumas appeared at the Camp Nou with the intention of showing the reality of Mexican soccer, he left with a crush that he could not suspect and sadly fit in. There were claims in azulgrana, with furious initial 20 minutes… And faced a toy that received a ‘pim-pam-pum’ without any response capacity.