Valladolid vs Barcelona: All eyes on the standard of the pitch LaLiga Santander Recently relaid The champions, who have the longest unbeaten run in the history of the league, now turn their attention to a side with plenty of history, who are now back in the top flight. Barcelona want to build on their opening day victory over Alaves while Valladolid, who achieves promotion against the odds thanks to a fine end to the season, go into the game with little to lose. Sergio Gonzalez is expected to continue the same formation as against Girona while he has included new signings Enes Unal and Duje Cop, with the latter set to go straight into the team. Ernesto Valverde has decided to leave out Alcacer, Vermaelen and Rafinha for technical reasons while Cillessen, Alena, Denis Suarez and Samper are injured. The pitch will be looked at closely at the Nuevo Zorrilla and Barcelona have not forgotten their complaints last time they played in Valladolid over the long, dry grass as they crashed to defeat. "The pitch was not in the right condition, it was poor and did not help us," said Xavi afterwards. This time there is no Xavi and it is also unlikely that Valladolid are looking to create a trap with long grass that has not been watered. The problem though is that the grass has been recently laid and needs more time for it to be in optimum condition. "I am more worried about the opposition but I will not deny that I am also thinking about this," said Valverde. "It is not normal to play a game and put the grass down four days before, I don't know whose idea it was. The pitch won't have give, players fall but lets not think about the worse scenario."<doc-sep>Real Valladolid’s big night had almost arrived but the pitch hadn’t. The first delivery, from down the road in Ávila, was no good and got sent back; the second was loaded on to trucks in Portugal only for someone to steal the petrol from their tanks, or so they said; and it was Thursday by the time the final strips of turf were rolled out, all-too-briefly covering the 105m by 68m space that had stood bare since promotion. By then, there were just two days to go before the José Zorrilla staged a first division game for the first time in four years. Their return had been a bit of a miracle; now they needed another. They didn’t get it. This was going to be a “party”, one paper said – a “debut among the stars” El Norte de Castilla called it – and queues for tickets built outside, while season ticket sales went past 20,000. Last season had begun against Barcelona B; this season, at home at least, began against the actual Barcelona. There could be no better barometer that they were back. “It’s like going from racing a Mini to racing a Ferrari,” said Diario de Valladolid, who added, a little more prophetically than they intended: “Let’s hope they don’t skid off at the first corner.” As it turned out, pretty much everyone skidded at pretty much every corner – and pretty much everywhere in between too. Valladolid’s new first division pitch had only been in place two days; within two minutes, it was all over the place. One local paper had optimistically declared the pitch ready but it wasn’t. The youth team played on it on Thursday, a test run that worried them, but there wasn’t much they could do now, except hope it would hold. Instead, chunks of turf came up everywhere: not divots, but entire strips of pitch. One picture of Jordi Alba lifting the pitch looks like he’s retrieving a door key from under the mat. With almost every turn it ripped and with almost every shot, it tore, ending up looking like the baize after some pillock had got drunk and played snooker with a javelin, a crazy golf course with grassy knolls everywhere. With every step, the earth moved, players turned into passengers standing in the bit between carriages. Jordi Alba tries in vain to replace another chunk of loose turf. Photograph: Sergio Perez/Reuters It was hard enough to stand, let alone score. Which isn’t to say it wasn’t fun; it was. And for Valladolid, it was almost fantastic too. Amidst it all, Ousmane Dembélé gave Barcelona the lead 10 minutes into the second half – “the lethal gardener,” AS called him – but it wasn’t over yet. The clock showed 91.54 – or it would have done if it wasn’t for the fact they’re not allowed to show anything after 90.00, because fans can’t be trusted to know the time – when Valladolid’s Keko Gontán scored the equaliser. He screamed, tore off his shirt and ran up hill, down hill and up hill again and all the way to the corner, where ball boys bundled in with teammates. The problem was that over on the other side of the pitch the linesman’s flag was up while, a little nearer, the referee’s finger was in his ear. With his other hand, he shushed the players heading towards him. As Valladolid’s players leapt around in the corner, Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea listened to the men in a little room in Las Rozas, 187km south. In total it took a minute and a half but from VAR HQ, they confirmed what the linesman thought: that Keko, grinning now, shaking his head, the realisation dawning on him, maybe even feeling a little silly, was offside. The celebration ended, and so soon did the game. Valladolid’s equaliser vanished, their moment gone. Their night ended in defeat. “VAR saves Barcelona,” cried the cover of Marca, which it hadn’t, but Valladolid had been close. And not just then, either. “We deserved it,” the coach Sergio Fernández said. No one wanted the pitch to be like that. It seems like they’re footballers and we’re farmers, but we’re footballers too Sergio Fernández A former Espanyol player, Sergio took over Valladolid with only eight games left last season. In late April, they were 11th in the second division and promotion wasn’t even a possibility but he changed everything – the mentality, above all. “We were on edge, there was a mental block,” Javi Moyano told El País. Sergio, a Rocky fan, started blasting out Eye of the Tiger before games and sought to convince his players they were actually quite good. Quickly, they saw that he was right: a weight had been lifted and they had take-off, beating Oviedo, Cádiz, Numancia, Albacete, Lorca and Osasuna. One defeat and six wins in seven league games took them to the play-offs, where they won four out of four – against Sporting and Numancia – and then, suddenly, unexpectedly, they were back. Suddenly, unexpectedly, and late. It was 16 June by the time they were promoted. Ten days later, they signed their first player – the last primera team to move in the market. They couldn’t move much, either; they still have to service a debt with inland revenue and work began on the stadium, not just on the pitch. Getafe came and took Jaime Mata from them: last season he scored 35 goals and provided seven assists, so it was some loss. Of their nine signings, five are on loan. Enes Ünal is the latest to join, only a week ago. Their budget is the smallest in the top flight. And here they were facing Barcelona, a club with a budget 20 times theirs and with as many titles in the last month as they have in 90 years. Keko Gontan of Real Valladolid celebrates but his goal was disallowed after a VAR review. Photograph: Soccrates Images/Getty Images Facing Barcelona and playing well too – prepared to go at them, accumulating only one shot fewer – and then almost getting the equalising goal they felt they deserved. “We enjoyed a day with the best,” Toni Villa said. Ultimately, though, they had lost. When it came down to it what they had done was not the focus; it was what they had failed to do. In the end, it was all about the pitch. “I’ve not seen anything like it for a long time,” said Ernesto Valverde. Gerard Piqué called it a “disgrace”. He added: “It was lucky no one got injured.” Marca called it a “minefield”. Valladolid’s big night wasn’t supposed to be like this. Playing Barcelona drew attention to them, but this wasn’t the attention they sought and they knew they could not escape the blame. Up in the directors’ box, the president Carlos Suárez looked on sadly. He explained what had happened from the beginning: how Valladolid had replaced the playing surface, drainage and all – the previous system dates from the 1982 World Cup – and how they had replaced the training pitches before doing the main pitch. He explained, and accepted that it all happened far, far too late. “We never thought it would be this bad,” he admitted. “If we get a fine, it will be fair.” They will, too: the president of the league, Javier Tebas, said that disciplinary proceedings would begin. Sergio Busquets complained that no one from the league had checked the pitch. He and his teammates took the opportunity to lay into plans to take a game to Miami, likely to be Girona-Barcelona. If that was a curious argument – after all, there are plenty of reasons not to do it but one thing the United States might be able to do better is provide a decent pitch – you could see the point. “In this grandiose league, where there’s talk of going to the US, we should start with first things first: making sure our pitches are in good condition,” Valverde said.<doc-sep>La Liga president Javier Tebas confirmed on Saturday that action will be taken against Real Valladolid for the state of their pitch. Barcelona managed to escape with a 1-0 win at the Estadio José Zorrilla but found it tough going on an awful pitch. Here’s what it looked like two days ago. This is how Real Valladolid pitch looked like 2 days ago. They’re facing Barcelona on the same pitch now in La Liga. pic.twitter.com/fXWC6pKNIE — Mootaz Chehade (@MHChehade) August 25, 2018 And here’s an example of how it cut up during the game. Always replace your divots pic.twitter.com/I7YWiH1qNV — AS English (@English_AS) August 25, 2018 As for Tebas - well here’s what he made of it all. “The pitch at the Jose Zorrilla did not meet the minimum criteria demanded for a competition like La Liga,” he said. Source | Samuel Marsden at ESPN Barcelona have also filed an official complaint about the pitch and quite right too.<doc-sep>
FULL-TIME, Valladolid 0-1 Barcelona: What an awful performance. We needed VAR to beat a newly promoted team. Just absurd. NO GOAL! Valladolid 0-1 Barcelona: It seemed like Keko had equalized with a header for Valladolid in the last play of the game, but VAR reviewed the play and the Spaniard was offside at the time of the cross. 77’: SAVE! Valladolid’s best chance of the game here. Duje Cop plays a fantastic cross into the box and Keko has a free header, but the forward heads the ball right into Ter Stegen’s hands. This is starting to get very dangerous for Barça... 74’: Valladolid are starting to look very dangerous, and both Jordi Alba and Samuel Umtiti had to make giant last-second clearances to keep Barça from conceding. We really need a second goal here. GOAL! Valladolid 0-1 Barcelona (Dembélé 57’): BARÇA TAKE THE LEAD! After a cross from Suárez from the left side, Sergi Roberto heads the ball perfectly into the path of Dembélé, who fires a beautiful volley into the bottom corner! SECOND HALF KICKOFF! Valladolid 0-0 Barcelona: Can we find the goals in the second half? We did it last week! HALFTIME, Valladolid 0-0 Barcelona: After a slow start Barça were very good in the final 25 minutes of the half, passing the ball with purpose and creating chances despite one of the worst halves of football we will ever see from Lionel Messi. Coutinho and Dembélé were very dangerous, but they saw Jordi Masip make great saves in chances they both created and finished, and Barça need to find a way past him in the second half. Also, the pitch is in awful shape. Really, really horrible. 35’: SAVE! After a few crosses into the box, the ball eventually falls to Coutinho who fires a very good shot to the bottom corner, but Masip gets to it and makes a great diving stop. 32’: BIG CHANCE! Philippe Coutinho plays a fantastic ball over the top to Luis Suárez, who is alone in front of goal but cannot beat Masip to put Barça ahead. We are getting closer, though! 22’: CHANCE! Ousmane Dembélé receives the ball in space at the edge of the box and fires a low shot just wide of the post. Barça come close to scoring! 16’: Very good team move by Barça. Quick passing in midfield until the ball finds Lionel Messi, who plays a wonderful pass over the top to Jordi Alba, who can’t quite control the pass and gives Jordi Masip a chance to make an important stop. 7’: First big chance of the game belongs to Valladolid. Enes Ünal finds himself in space at the edge of the box and fires a rocket with his left foot, but Ter Stegen makes a good save. KICKOFF! Valladolid 0-0 Barcelona: Don’t give me a heart attack, boys. LINEUPS BARCELONA Starting XI: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Piqué, Umtiti, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Coutinho; Messi, Suárez, Dembélé (4-3-3) Bench: Ezkieta, Lenglet, Semedo, Vidal, Arthur, Malcom, Munir VALLADOLID Starting XI: Masip; Moyano, Olivas, Calero, Nacho; Borja, Alcaraz; Tuhami, Plano, Suárez; Ünal Bench: Verde, Antoñito, Cop, Míchel, Keko, Pérez, Salisu The second week of the new La Liga season is here! Barcelona started well against Alavés and are now looking for their first win away from home with a trip to newly promoted Real Valladolid. Barça are obvious favorites to win this one, but they can’t take this for granted and must play at their best to not only get three points but to do it in dominant fashion. So join us for a very fun LIVE BLOG! (Note: the comments will be open as soon as the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section) MATCH INFO Competition/Round: 2018-19 La Liga, Matchday 2 Date/Time: Saturday, August 25, 2018, 10.15pm CET (Barcelona) / 9.15pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria) / 4.15pm ET, 1.15pm PT (USA) / 1.45am IST (India, Sunday) Venue: Estadio Municipal José Zorrilla, Valladolid, Spain Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), Eleven Sports 1 (UK), SuperSport 7 (Nigeria), others How to stream: beIN SPORTS CONNECT (USA & Canada), others Matchday Thread Rules We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads: Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, no swearing.