Barcelona won this Saturday without difficulty by 0-2 against a Red Bull that did not create a single chance of real danger throughout the match, in a match in which the Polish Lewandowski did not manage to debut for his new team despite trying by all means.
The New York Red Bulls field had been taken over by the Blaugrana fans -the local fans were invisible-, who endlessly cheered their team, today with the yellow kit, in addition to shouting with special affection the name of Gerard Piqué and that of the Catalan coach.
Xavi Hernández brought out today 21 players to the field, to give film to their entire squad in this their last game of the friendly series in the United States, where they have won four victories, two against local teams and the rest against Real Madrid and Juventus.
A priori the Red Bulls team, one of the most powerful in the American league, was to give the Catalan team more work but it was completely blurred and Barcelona did nothing but walk around their field, creating numerous dangerous situations but without great success when it came to defining.
In the first half , the danger came to the nursery of the local Colonel especially from the Barcelona right wing, with a very active Araújo who came up from his position and a De Jong who played center midfield today and who wanted to be more active than in days past.
But almost all the chances were created by Dembélé or Raphinha, who were looking for Lewandowski all the time, as was the public, who particularly cheered him on, wanting to see him score the first goal of his new life at Barça.
The Pole is still hungry for a goal but has not been able to define on any of the occasions that he arranged, despite the fact that he tried again and again, with his feet and head, sometimes delivering weak balls to the goalkeeper and others shooting m uy over the crossbar.
Barcelona’s goal finally came in the minute 40 of the first period , when after an assist from Raphinha from the left, Dembélé did not hesitate and sent a right cross against which the goalkeeper Colonel could not do anything.
In the second half the tables of the first were repeated: although Barcelona came out completely renewed, with Piqué organizing the game from behind, the locals could not overcome an insulting dominance (possession of the ball blaugrana higher than 70 percent).
It was Ansu Fati who in the second half looked with more longing for the goal, although he ended up getting mixed up with the ball most of the time, and when the second goal came it was unexpected: in an attack led by Memphis, the goalkeeper blundered in rebound and left the ball at the Dutchman’s feet, that he only had to push it almost without force.
It was the minute 87 and there was almost nothing left to prove. As soon as the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, the field began to be invaded by spontaneous people who wanted a photograph with their Barcelona idols, and although private security and the police were used thoroughly, they could not prevent a dozen people from accessing to the field and put a stain on what had been a party.