Barcelona have a perfect run-up before the rematch with Inter Milan
Coach Hansi Flick made a risky decision when rotating Barcelona's squad against Valladolid. With a squad that included many reserve and young players, the Catalan team surprisingly let their relegated La Liga opponents open the scoring in the 6th minute through Ivan Sanchez.
Lamine Yamal once again saved Barcelona, coming off the bench to help his team turn the game around.
Photo: Reuters
It was not until there were personnel changes at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half, including the very important presence of young star Lamine Yamal from the 38th minute (replacing Daniel Rodriguez), Dani Olmo, Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha, that Barcelona regained their familiar attacking rhythm.
Thanks to that, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez managed to save Barcelona from falling against Valladolid, scoring 2 goals in the 54th and 60th minutes to help the home team come back to win 2-1 away.
Yamal almost scored late on after his tricky shot was blocked by Valladolid defender Antonio Candela on the goal line in the 80th minute. The 17-year-old also produced one of the most impressive dribbles of the match when he spun around with the ball to beat two defenders.
This performance shows that Yamal is in top form heading into the rematch with Inter Milan in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals next week at San Siro (2am on May 7). The first leg between Barcelona and Inter Milan ended in a 3-3 draw.
Meanwhile, the victory over Valladolid helped Barcelona stabilize the domestic front when increasing the gap at the top of La Liga to 7 points over rival Real Madrid. Real Madrid will meet Celta Vigo at 7pm on May 4th, forced to win to maintain hope, before facing Barcelona directly at 9:15pm on May 11th to decide the La Liga championship at the end of the season.
Coach Arteta's gamble, Arsenal focuses on Champions League
Similar to Barcelona, Arsenal is focusing all their attention on the Champions League semi-finals with the second leg against PSG at 2am on May 8th away. The Gunners lost the first leg 0-1. Meanwhile, in the Premier League, Arsenal is ranked 2nd, only 3 points ahead of Man City.
Coach Arteta gambled, now under pressure as Arsenal suffers painful defeat to Bournemouth
Photo: Reuters
However, coach Arteta still gambled by using the strongest squad in the match against Bournemouth on May 4 in the hope of finding a win to firmly defend the runner-up position and create momentum before the rematch against PSG.
However, this intention failed when the "Gunners" lost 1-2, after Declan Rice opened the score in the 34th minute of the first half, in the second half they let the opponent come back to score 2 goals thanks to Dean Huijsen and Evanilson in the 67th and 75th minutes.
The defeat will hit Arsenal hard at the moment, when they seemed to be in control of the situation, but they fell into a situation of pressure. Including the possibility of losing the runner-up position in the Premier League and the chance of reaching the Champions League final became uncertain.
Coach Arteta expressed: "Arsenal wanted to create a positive atmosphere to go to Paris. However, we are very disappointed with the result. Now, we have to turn this disappointment into the biggest motivation when we meet PSG. This is our opportunity to make amends. Now is the time to show courage, resilience, go to Paris and use everything we feel we have at the moment, to have a great performance, win and reach the final."
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/yamal-giup-barcelona-tien-sat-ngoi-vo-dich-la-liga-arsenal-don-tam-tri-o-champions-league-185250504081852141.htm
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