FC Barcelona overcame a scare at the Olímpic Lluís Companys as they turned a 0-1 deficit to a 2-1 victory against FC Porto and earned the all-important three points – this victory ensured their qualification to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 for the first time in two seasons.
As reported by SPORT, however, FC Barcelona did pick a piece from Real Madrid’s book as the Catalans emulated what their arch-rivals have been doing since many years and that is, a Remontada (Spanish translation for ‘comeback’).
Such victories don’t occur because of eye-pleasing football or through good plays, but a team ends up prevailing due to their attitude and perseverance on the field after being put down by their opponents.
The match wasn’t smooth sailing for the Blaugranes, as they had a shaky start. This was evident when their Portuguese opponents had a goal disallowed, but then took the lead a few minutes later. However, they were eventually rescued thanks to a brilliant performance by the Portuguese duo, Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix.
This is not the first time this season where Barcelona were punched in the gut first but managed to prevail; they overturned a 0-2 deficit against Celta Vigo to a 3-2 victory and as recent as two games ago they won 2-1 against Alaves after being a goal behind.
Although not the best performance, Xavi can breathe easily – for now at least – as the team and Xavi himself were under scrutiny for their performances in recent games.
As admitted by Joao Felix, “We were able to correct it but perhaps on other occasions we won’t be able to.” This statement also came off as a warning that they won’t get an opportunity to make such comebacks regularly.
Currently, the objective at FC Barcelona is to show the character that they did against FC Porto but at the same time, highlight the meaning of wearing the Catalan colors.
