Hi community!
The Galician and Catalan teams face each other again this Sunday in "celeste" territory.
This Sunday, FC Barcelona returns to one of the stadiums that has caused them the most headaches in the last decade: Balaídos. There, they will face Celta Vigo, a team that, regardless of their league position or current form, always seems to transform when playing against the Blaugrana. For Barça, Vigo is more than just a difficult away match.
https://nekodeportes.com/balaidos-un-territorio-incomodo-para-el-barcelona/
The statistics are devastating. In the last ten seasons, Barcelona has only managed to win twice at Balaídos. In contrast, Celta has won four times, and they have drawn five times. No other stadium in La Liga has proven so unforgiving for the Catalan side in recent years. Not the Sánchez-Pizjuán, not San Mamés, not the Bernabéu. Balaídos is, by its own merits, the most unpredictable venue for Barça.
The most recent memory still stings in the Barcelona dressing room. Last season, the match ended 2-2 after Barcelona squandered a 2-0 lead. In just two minutes, Celta Vigo turned the game around with a burst of intensity that left Flick's men reeling. Balaídos roared like on its best European nights, and Barça left with that all-too-familiar feeling in Vigo: having let slip something they thought they had under control.
Celta Vigo has managed to turn this derby into a source of pride, almost a matter of identity. It doesn't matter if the team is fighting for European qualification or relegation; when Barcelona visits, the city comes to a standstill. From the days of Eduardo Berizzo to the more recent eras with Óscar García, Coudet, and Rafa Benítez, the Galician side has maintained a tendency that borders on the inexplicable. Just recall a few memorable episodes. In the 2014-15 season, Berizzo's Celta won 1-0 at the Camp Nou with a goal from Larrivey, but they also put up a fight at home. In 2015-16, a historic 4-1 victory, with a dazzling performance from Iago Aspas, left Barcelona without answers. A year later, the scoreboard again reflected a frenetic 4-3, another night of high-octane football where Celta prevailed with courage and pace.
See You soon!
Posted Using INLEO