After surviving a comeback from Real Valladolid Promesas in the first round, Barcelona B took surviving to the extreme against CD Badajoz.
Without Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, and Alex Collado, but now with Ronald Araujo, Garcia Pimienta’s squad was given all they could handle from a scrappy Badajoz side willing to concede possession and hit on the counter. And hit on the counter they did.
Barça B dominated possession and the run of play in the first half, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Nearing the end of the first 45 minutes, Monchu made a critical error on a misplayed pass, Jorge Cuenca missed a risky tackle, and Badajoz netted on a two-on-one against Araujo.
Fortunately in the second half, Rey Manaj, who had not impressed in the play-offs up until that point, finally came alive and knocked in a header for the equalizer. The assist came from Konrad de la Fuente off the left wing. de la Fuente and Sergio Akieme were two of the better players on the field in the game, with so much of Barça B’s attack coming down the left channel. Unlike January recruits Manaj and Matheus Pereira, who wasn’t able to have much of an impact on the right wing in his second Barcelona B match (the first being Valladolid), de la Fuente has made the jump from Juvenil A to the B side with confidence and looks right at home.
This continues what can be argued as the American’s best season in La Masia.
Ilaix Moriba and Jandro Orellana helped Monchu control possession and facilitate the attack through the wings, and both players were taken off as Garcia Pimienta moved to three centre-backs. Seconds later, Barça B got the equalizer.
In the penalty shoot-out, Iñaki Peña stopped the first Badajoz attempt after Akieme blasted it past Badajoz keeper Kike Royo. Royo had a tremendous showing up until penalty kicks, but all five Blaugrana takers converted – Akieme, Araujo, Cuenca, Manaj, and Monchu.
The last test for promotion comes on Sunday – a game that Barça B took part in most recently in 2010. That time, they won promotion back to the second division. That most recent promotion final came in 2017, when Barça B placed 1st in the table and had to beat Racing Santander in two legs in the group winners backet.
Regardless of how they get back to the second division, getting promotion is a big deal – let’s not understate it. We talked about the necessity for promotion on the latest edition of The Barcelona Podcast.
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Dan Hilton is an American journalist, broadcaster, and current Editor-in-Chief of BarcaBlog. Extensive work as a play-by-play broadcaster, producer behind the scenes, and quite average player in his younger years has given him a well-rounded and informative perspective on the sport. Alongside BarcaBlog founder Francesc, Dan started The Barcelona Podcast in 2017.
