FC Barcelona 1-0 Alavés: Lewandowski keeps the LaLiga dream alive

The FC Barcelona is more alive than ever in LaLiga EA Sports 2024-25. The blaugrana team hosted Alavés at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and experienced a magical afternoon, achieving a convincing victory (1-0) that allows them to close the gap in the standings with Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid and re-enter the title race, placing themselves just 1 point behind the colchoneros and 4 behind the merengues. 

The team of Hansi Flick achieved a resounding and hard-fought victory with a display of character and hierarchy. The blaugranas managed to break down the albiazul wall and reaffirmed their historical dominance over the babazorro team with a goal from Robert Lewandowski, which allows them to fully enter the championship fight after the 'setback' of the madridistas against Espanyol (1-0).

A stuck first half for Barça

The first 45 minutes were full of hard work and little reward for Barça. The blaugranas dominated the match from the start, but they could not translate their dangerous chances into goals. In the 3rd minute, Lamine Yamal thrilled the Montjuïc crowd with a 'Messianic' play, dribbling past 7 players from his own half and assisting Raphinha in the area, but the '11's' shot went wide.

Lewandowski and Pedri also tried to shake the net of the goal defended by Owono, but their shots did not find the target, and although the visitors barely approached Szczesny's area, their defensive solidity kept the score at 0, and both teams went to the locker rooms with much to define.

Gavi gave a scare in the first half

The most notable moment of the first half, unfortunately, was the terrifying head clash between Gavi and Tomás Conechny. Just before the 10th minute, the two players jumped in an aerial dispute for the ball in the midfield and fell to the ground after colliding in a completely accidental play, generating a deafening silence in a concerned crowd due to the shocking image.

The scare was huge in Montjuïc, where the players' gestures raised alarms. However, the Andalusian was able to get up and left the field on his own, and although Fermín López was already prepared to enter in his place, he insisted until exhaustion that he be allowed to return to the field. In contrast, the babazorro attacker, much more affected than the '6' culé, had to leave the pitch on a stretcher and was replaced by his teammate Carlos Martín.

Once removed from the match, both players were taken to the hospital by ambulance for examination, as established in the protocol. Fortunately, the blaugrana midfielder was able to get into the vehicle on his own and appeared normal, so it is expected that everything will end up being just a scare.

Barça unleashed the 'storm' in the 2nd half

Upon returning from the locker rooms, Hansi Flick shook things up. The German brought on Frenkie de Jong and Eric García in search of solutions, and once again the 'B unit' responded. The team's attacks began to flow more smoothly, and the culé players found Lamine Yamal 'possessed', responsible for the most dangerous situations for the blaugranas.

Under this formula came the first goal of the afternoon. From a corner earned after a spectacular shot from '19' that was saved by the babazorro goalkeeper, Pedri sent a cross to the far post for the star from Mataró, who delivered a 'center-shot' that, after deflecting off Tenaglia, fell on the opposite side of the small area, where Lewandowski appeared to finally break the deadlock in the 60th minute.

From there, the match opened up, and the Catalans sought the second goal by all means, although without much luck. However, the dominance over their rival was so overwhelming that there was no need to celebrate another goal to seal the victory, although it would have calmed a Barcelona fanbase that, aware of the importance of securing the three points, was praying for the final whistle from the referee.

Barça fully enters the title race.

In this way, Flick's team fully enters the title race. The blaugranas took advantage of the fall of Real Madrid against Espanyol (1-0) and closed the gap in the standings.

The whites maintain the lead with 49 points, but Atlético de Madrid, who defeated Mallorca (2-0) is only 1 unit away, and the culés, after their great victory this Sunday, are just 4 points behind with 16 matchdays left to play.

Additionally, colchoneros and merengues will face each other next week in the Madrid derby, so the stumble of either could be brutally beneficial for a Barça that keeps its dream of lifting the LaLiga title alive more than ever.

Lewandowski reached 30 goals

Robert Lewandowski is starting to find his most lethal version again. After going three consecutive matchdays in LaLiga without scoring, the Pole has now scored against Valencia and Alavés consecutively, matching his second-best streak after scoring in matchdays 1 (Valencia x2) and 2 (Athletic) and in 6 and 7 (Villarreal and Getafe). His best scoring stretch was between weeks 9 and 11, scoring three against Alavés in Mendizorroza, two against Sevilla, and two against Real Madrid. 

Moreover, with this goal, the '9' blaugrana now has 30 goals this season in all competitions, distributed in LaLiga (18), Champions League (9), Supercopa de España (2), and Copa del Rey (1). Additionally, with this goal, he increases his lead to three in the race for the Pichichi over Kylian Mbappé.

Technical sheet of the match:    

• FC Barcelona, 1: Szczesny (P); Koundé, Pau Cubarsí, Araujo (Eric García, min. 46), Balde (G. Martín, min. 83); Casadó (Frenkie de Jong, min. 46), Pedri, Gavi (Fermín López, min. 14); Lamine Yamal, Raphinha (Ferran Torres, min. 67), Lewandowski (Pau Víctor, min. 90+2).
• Alavés, 0:  Owono; Tenaglia, Mouriño, Diarra, Manu Sánchez; Guevara (Villalibre, min. 90+3), Antonio Blanco; Carlos Vicente (Novoa, min. 76), Guridi (Martín, min. 76), Conechny (Martín, min. 14); Kike García.
• Goals: 1-0 Robert Lewandowski (min. 61).
• Referee: Munuera Montero. He cautioned the culés Gavi, Fermín López, Lamine Yamal, and Araujo and the albiazules Tenaglia and Benavidez.