One red card, one injured player, last minute equalizer and two points dropped. That’s the summary of Sunday’s city derby between Barcelona and Espanyol, at least for the Barca coach Xavi. In pursuit of the place and the Champions League, the Catalonians had a chance to both win against the hated rival and close the gap between them and Betis in third place, but they allowed Espanyol to come from behind and nearly escaped the defeat after a last minute goal from Luuk De Jong. And speaking about the Dutchman, he came to the rescue (again) even thou he is the fifth choice striker (well OK, maybe fourth, since there is also Braithwaite in the club). Not Dembele, not Aubameyang, not Ferran: De Jong saves Barca in the last second of the city derbyThe derby got heated (at one point) and as a result, one of the most experienced players in the team, Gerrard Pique got the red card and will miss Valencia match. And to make things worse for Xavi, another central defender may be out of action – Ronald Araujo was substituted due to injury at half time, and his replacement Eric Garcia was a direct culprit for the second Espanyol goal. And while on the bench, Araujo managed to confront Melamed, who got the red card after a scuffle with Pique and made clear gestures of “A Segunda” with his hand. He was quick to apologize for his actions to all the people of Espanyol and contributed his behavior to the derby day tension.(3.40) MALLORCA (2.95) ATH. BILBAO (2.40)But, apart from problems in defense, Xavi is experiencing problems up front as well. After January reinforcements, Barcelona scored six goals in two matches, but five of them came from defenders and midfielders and only one from forward. And that forward was Luuk de Jong. 7 billion Ksh was spent on Ferran Torres, while Adama Traore came back to his boyhood club on a loan, while Pierre Emerick Aubameyang signed as a free agent and took a pay cut. Apart from those players, Barca has Ansu Fati (injured) Dembele (contract rebel) and Memphis Depay (injured), Martin Braithwaite and Luuk de Jong.10 – @FCBarcelona have scored more headed goals than any other team in @LaLigaEN this season with 10 goals, their best tally in a single league campaign since 2016/17 (also 10 but in 38 games). Resource. pic.twitter.com/9CYi8oP4Vk— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 13, 2022 And the Dutchman is the second scorer in the club with 5 goals from only 17 appearances, many of which have been from the bench. He is patient, waits for his chance and then comes in and scores, unlike other forwards. Luuk de Jong may be a “dying breed”, he may not have enough quality for such a big club, but just imagine where the Catalans would be at the table, if they got rid of him in January, as they wanted to.
