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Spain has a second wave of viruses to fight, Ronald Koeman a shipwreck to face and Zinedine Zidane a job to try to keep.
The efforts, of course, are a bit different. But as always, nothing is as always when Spain charges for El Clásico.
Of course, Gerard Piqué knew that his interview with the local newspaper La Vanguardia would be published on the eve of the biggest club match this fall in Europe. This was probably included in the calculations when he questioned point by point the performance of the FC Barcelona board in recent years.
How can Lionel Messi be treated so badly after twenty years at the club?
How can collective bargaining for a club salary cut be handled so badly?
Why is there no place in the organization for old club legends like Pep, Puyol, Valdés and Xavi?
What was the point of firing Ernesto Valverde in the heat of the burning season?
And so.
It was a refreshing and intact Gerard Piqué who yesterday removed the blade from his mouth. Both the player and “the partner” spoke. As one of the four captains of the first team, Piqué has nothing to fear when he bites. As a member of the club since childhood, he is frustrated and worried.
Photo: Miguel Morenatti / TT NEWS AGENCY
Gerard Piqué has harshly criticized the Barça leadership this week.
By the followers, against their own management
And with the reservation that we do not know all the details of the telenovela FC Barcelona, we can still affirm that the myth of the player is far from over. The disturbing vote of no confidence on the fate of the club’s president, Bartomeus, could turn the tables in a couple of weeks. But first, the a of Barça will play the most important game of the autumn in an empty Camp Nou. By his supporters and against his own management.
Coach Ronald Koeman’s task is to cross between the two poles, minimize damage as much as possible, and keep everyone in a good mood. Nothing would facilitate that task more than a victory against Real Madrid this afternoon.
If it has been an incredibly messy summer and autumn in Catalonia, it has been much quieter in Madrid. At least until very recently. After Real Madrid won the league victory in July, there has not been a single significant signing. Martin Ødegård has returned to loan Real Sociedad to the German Álvaro Odriozola. That is really it. Otherwise, Zinedine Zidane seems to have hoped to get Eden Hazard back at match weight and that the rest will continue as last year, when the team barely conceded a goal and when Sergio Ramos scored the second-most forward.
Zidanes work hotat?
But then came the unexpected defeat against Cádiz in the League. In the days that followed, the clash against a Sjacthar Donetsk decimated by the crown in the Champions League. This start of the season, Real Madrid has leaked backwards worryingly, has conceded one goal per game, and on the eve of the game against Barcelona, Zinedine Zidane can suddenly read in the Spanish newspapers that his work is threatened if not returns home with a result of the Camp Nou.
– They said the same thing last year, sighed Zidane, when the question came up at the press conference on the eve of the match.
I’ve never lost in Barcelona, I might have added, because it’s actually one of the Frenchman’s most impressive suites since he took over as Real Madrid manager in 2016, left the club two years later, and returned last year.
On March 1 of this year the last Clásicot was played, in front of the crowded stands of the Bernabéu stadium in Madrid. Corona’s threat was already in the air then, but in the arena press room the cheekbones flew as usual and after the match, which Real Madrid won effortlessly, both Gerard Piqué and Sergio Ramos remained in the mixed zone for a long time and explained why it turned out that way. No mouth guards, no plexiglass, no hearing restrictions. Other life. The last unrestricted live football I saw. Smell.
Spain needs it
Two weeks later, Spain closed and a nationwide curfew was announced. Seven months later, it remains one of the worst affected countries in the world. Spaniards need something else to think about, a few hours of distraction, a news fact that is not about how many new inner Madrid neighborhoods are under quarantine.
They need a good football game at Camp Nou this afternoon.
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