This week, it’ll be interesting to see whether Van Bommel sanctions tactics aimed at testing the referee’s tolerance by aggressively bullying a side packed with physically diminutive talents like Alejandro Balde, João Félix, Gundogan, Frenkie de Jong, Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal and Gavi.
Back to the comparisons with Larsson and Belletti. With the arrival and immediate eruption of Joao Felix next to him, Lewandowski has begun to look like… Robert Lewandowski again.
His goal against Betis, the crucial strike to make it 2-0, was embellished by him turning to Felix and warning the Portugal international that he wanted a dummy when the ball was played in. Then getting that, when Andreas Christensen slid the ball through, and the Pole produced the type of sprint and finish he hasn’t really shown for just short of a year.
Last week Lewandowski admitted to the Polish media that “before coming to Barcelona, I was a bit of a goal machine … here I’ve become a bit more ‘human.'” Is he back?
And then there’s Cancelo. Like his Portugal teammate Felix, he looks custom-made for this team not only because of his abilities, but because of the problem he solves at right-back. He plays with Pep Guardiola orders in his head and pops up as an “inside” fullback, perpetually offering himself as a “free” man in midfield. It’s intoxicating to watch.
Each of the Joaos scored, each of them looked like the “missing piece” and each of them, you might say, has arrived at Barcelona just in time. I bet Van Bommel will have his own thoughts on the matter. They’ll probably be grumpy ones, too.
