The curious history of Lamine Yamal and Sergio Ramos

Sergio Ramos returned to face his old enemies Barcelona, dressed in white once more but this time a cornerstone of Sevilla's defence. The clash was already on edge after a note from Sevilla saying they were refusing to attend the directors' lunch and sit in the box, and Barça's response was forceful, announcing that they were breaking off relations with the Sevilla club for their "unjustified and improper attack".

The ball began to roll and on the pitch there was no additional tension due to the enormous anger of the Barça directors, while those from Sevilla, who had travelled hiding their intentions, were placed in the stands. In the noble zone sat a representation of the Barça women's team that took part in the World Cup, with Aitana Bonmatí, world champion and best player on the planet, with the gold medal and The Best award.

     

A video of the run-up to a Barça-Madrid match (2 April 2016) in which tribute was paid to Johan Cruyff, who had died a few days earlier, was circulating on social media. Sergio Ramos was in the tunnel, ready to take the field to lead his team. To the right of Los Blancos' players were the children who were going to take the field with them as mascots. The first, the one who came out hand in hand with Ramos, was a smiling Lamine Yamal.

They shook hands again seven years later. More briefly. In the typical protocol fashion. They were to meet face to face, Lamine Yamal, a little more than a child, 16 years old in July, and Sergio Ramos, 37 years old, one going out and one just beginning. As fate would have it, they shared another episode. Their joint contribution to the Barça goal.

Ferran crossed the ball to the advancing Yamal down the right flank. The youngster headed it back towards Fermín, but the ball found the legs of Ramos on the way, who was running towards goal and put through his own net.

The tactic

Xavi brought back the midfield square, you know, two midfielders and two central midfielders in front. But he drew it up with only two midfielders. He used Gündogan and Gavi at the back and Raphinha and João Félix, two strikers, further forward. Xavi wanted to preserve Oriol Romeu, for example, ahead of the visit to Porto next Wednesday. Or perhaps he sacrificed him because of the bad game in Mallorca. With De Jong and Pedri injured and unrecoverable until the end of the month, only Sergi Roberto and Fermín, another converted striker, were left as replacements. The reconversion proved useful and timely.

The problem

It wasn't going badly for Barça, who sometimes get stuck against opponents in tight spaces, but at the cost of Ter Stegen intervening too much, too much. More than Orjan Nyland, Sevilla's Norwegian goalkeeper. The crossbar prevented João Félix's goal and Gavi's chest saved Ocampos from scoring. The back and forth benefited the Azulgrana, who were superior in their attacking ability.

Fermín maintained Raphinha's high level, and covered more ground with a greater physical deployment, something necessary to prevent the Andalusian progressions. His ball steals allowed for quicker attacks. After the break, Xavi broke up the square set-up and Fermín and Gavi occupied the interior positions, with Gündogan in midfield and João Félix open to the wing, then Ferran. Barça compensated, they continued to attack without success and Sevilla's attacks were slowing down. 

The injury

Raphinha paid for the overexertion that the inside position demanded of him. It was a physical strain that he is not used to when he plays as a winger, with more occasional and shorter interventions.

Raphinha was coming and going and on one of those runs where he projected himself alone towards Nyland's goal, the muscle exploded. He forced his right leg out to protect the ball from the defender, the last obstacle before the goalkeeper, and got stuck. He immediately put his hand on the back of his thigh and sat on the ground.

There was no other way out than substitution. Fermín was the one chosen by Xavi. It was the right choice. The canterano who amazed in the preseason, scorer of the goal that earned the draw in Mallorca, improved Raphinha's contribution. Barça only reported the (obvious) existence of the injury, which could be in the hamstring muscles.

With Pedri and Frenkie de Jong injured, Raphinha is the third casualty for the second Champions League match, next Wednesday in Porto. The Champions League is coming up and, like last year, injuries are on the rise in the dressing room.