Valladolid and the pitch 0-1 Barcelona: Dembele decides, VAR helps
The Frenchman scored the only goal of the game, Valladolid had a 92nd minute equaliser ruled out
If this was a Friends episode it would have been ‘The one about the pitch’. Really, any memories of this scrappy game will be tied to the playing surface at the Jose Zorrilla being about as playable as a war-zone, with trenches and shell craters to match.
REAL VALLADOLID
0 ________________ 1
FC BARCELONA
LINE UP
REAL VALLADOLID
Masip, Moyano, Kiko Olivas, Calero, Nacho, Borja (Keko, 64'), Alcaraz, Anuar, Toni Villa (Verde, 86'), Óscar Plano y Enes Unal (Duje Cop, 70').
FC BARCELONA
Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Coutinho (Malcom, 83'), Dembélé (Arturo Vidal, 75'), Messi y Suárez (Munir, 90').
GOLES
0-1, Dembélé (56').
ÁRBITRO
De Burgos Bengoetxea (colegio vasco). T.A.: Ens Unal (48')/Piqué (60').
INCIDENCIAS
Partido correspondiente a la segunda jornada de LaLiga disputado en el José Zorrilla ante 22.651 espectadores. Se guardó un minuto de silencio antes del encuentro en memoria de los abonados del Valladolid fallecidos la temporada pasada.
The sub-plot? Ousmane Dembele continued to show why this could be his year at Barcelona, with teething problems done and dusted.
In one of the rare moments of quality in this game he struck the winning goal, driving it beyond Jordi Masip after Sergi Roberto did brilliantly to head Luis Suarez’s over-hit cross back to him.
The Uruguayan scored too but the goal was correctly ruled out thanks to VAR, so he is yet to hit the target this season.
In defence Gerard Pique struggled badly with Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the right place at the right time, every time, to help him out.
Ernesto Valverde saved the new signings the ignominy of being forced to play on this surface, with all four summer acquisitions starting with bums on seats.
Instead it was the old guard, the double winners, the trusted ones, who kicked off. But the game could barely get going thanks to the surface.
It only burst into life at the end, long after Dembele’s goal, when Keko Gontan headed home in stoppage time, but the goal was again correctly disallowed with help from VAR.
