Ferran Torres vindicates himself and Barca don't fail

Barça lose a lot of talent without Pedri. The young player from Tenerife has become, despite being only 20 years old, the compass of the team. From his footballing intelligence comes the magic that Xavi's project needs to play brilliantly and become champions. The absence due to injury, at least for four weeks, of the midfielder from the Canary Islands is a handicap that is difficult to overcome. Because there is no other player like Pedri in the squad. No one else has his lucidity, his temperament and his verticality. That is why it is logical that Barça's level suffers. As happened yesterday against Cádiz. They lacked the freshness to surpass the orderly opposition defence. The Blaugrana team worked hard, tried on the wings, but not with enough success to get ahead on the scoreboard...

Until Ferran Torres came up with probably his best move since he has been at Camp Nou, dribbling past three opponents and setting up Sergi Roberto's goal. Just a minute later, Lewandowski's flick made it 2-0 and put the game to bed before the break. Barça's seventh consecutive win in La Liga maintained their eight-point lead over Madrid. A new step towards the title which is the main objective of the season, although without giving up on the Europa League which has a decisive chapter next Thursday at Old Trafford. Barça will need to be at their best to beat Manchester United and qualify for the last 16 of the competition. 

FERRAN MAKES THE MOST OF HIS CHANCE; ANSU DOESN'T

Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres have been crying out for a chance for weeks. The two forwards have been the biggest victims of Xavi's decision to go for the fourth midfielder. The coach decided to play with just one winger (Dembélé until his injury and then Raphinha) alongside the untouchable Lewandowski. This further complicated the presence on the pitch of Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres. The home-grown player, despite having played in 32 of Barça's 33 games, had played sparingly: few minutes (a total of 1,149) and almost always non essential. Ferran Torres had not fared much better: 9 starts and 2 full games for a total of 1,016 minutes.

Yesterday, Xavi gave them the option to vindicate themselves by making rotations against Cádiz. They both started. Ferran took advantage of the opportunity in an extraordinary way, playing his best game as a blaugrana player and was the great protagonist in the match. Ansu, unfortunately, did not.