The Südtribune Signal Iduna Park is intimidating. That Yellow Wall (Die Gelbe Wand) 100 meters wide, 52 meters long and 40 meters high; with an inclination of 37 degrees; and with capacity for about 25,000 spectators, who, as if that were not enough, (almost) never stop singing, can scare anyone. He did not do it, however, with Hansi Flick’s Barcelona, nor with Dani Olmo. After four years in the Bundesliga, in which he scored 29 goals and distributed 34 assists in 148 games with the RB Leipzig shirt, the Barça number 20 was the one designated by Hansi Flick to take control of Barça’s game at Dortmund’s home . It didn’t fail. Until Olmo was on the field, Barça controlled the situation. Then, blow by blow, Ferran Torres’ scoring instinct appeared.
“We can be very happy with what we have done, as we have believed. The first half was wonderful and in the second half, when they scored, we were stable,” analyzed Hansi Flick. In the run-up to the trip to Germany to play the sixth game of the Champions League group, the Barcelona coach had doubts about the ideal eleven to play against Borussia Dortmund, one of the teams in the top eight of the table. . Flick did not know whether to call his boys’ attention after the draw against Betis, a new setback, translated into five points from the last 15 played in the League. Without clear ideas, the technician spoke with his staff about the possibility of adding Frenkie De Jong to the starting eleven. There were two problems. The first, the Dutchman is not in top shape, neither physically nor mentally; The second, who would be the one designated?
If I took into account the GPS data, Dani Olmo was the first option. On the 20th he had no longer played against Las Palmas even though he was available. The German coach had been warned that he could get injured. So, he chose to avoid all risks: he did not play a single minute against the Canary Islands team despite being on the bench. But against Dortmund it was different. Hansi Flick was not willing to erase one of his franchise players, Barcelona’s most important signing last summer. An economic extra effort for the delicate Barça economy. In fact, Olmo is only registered in the fair playFinancial of the League until next January 1.
“I’m sure we’ll be able to register him,” Deco, Barcelona’s sporting director, came out to the intersection minutes before the opening shot of the duel against Borussia in Dortmund. After the new Nike contract did not finish resolving Barcelona’s problems with the fair play, Sports WorldHe revealed last Tuesday that Dani Olmo has a clause in his contract in which he would be free in the event that Barça could not register him. A situation that the Barça entity already suffered in the last market: they could not count on Olmo in the first two games of the League. “I hope and wish that Barça achieves it, I am positive and optimistic. In the end, Barça always manages to register the players, but we’ll see… Furthermore, he is a player that I really like,” said Javier Tebas, president of the association.
At Barcelona they are working on different alternatives to achieve registration. They work on a new lever: sell the new boxes vips from the Camp Nou. In case it doesn’t work, president Joan Laporta would be willing to endorse again as he did last summer to register João Félix and João Cancelo.
Olmo, in any case, is calm. And he showed it on the Borussia Dortmund field. The 20th was key to complement Raphinha and Lamine Yamal for Barcelona to regain the intense pressure against Dortmund, also for the Blaugrana to take over the lead in the first half: 66%. The pass emerged from his boots for Raphinha to make it 0-1. “The positive thing was the possession of the ball in the first half. We have played calmly. When we made the changes with Fermín and Ferran they were direct,” highlighted the Barcelona coach.
But Flick didn’t want scares. And, to avoid burdening Olmo’s legs further, he replaced him in the 71st minute. Raphinha, Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal also did not complete the game. It was then that Barcelona lost control of the match, not the score. “Suffering is not the right word. Dortmund played very well. They are fantastic players who have a very high pace, but we have done well. The goals have happened because we have made mistakes. We can always improve, but today I have to say congratulations to the team because they have done great,” concluded the Barcelona coach.
Without Olmo on the field, the spotlight fell on Ferran Torres. Always an opportunist, the Valencian striker finished what Olmo had started: silencing the noisy Yellow Wall.
