The heated atmosphere that took place in Barcelona-Real Madrid last Sunday has turned this week into appeasement in pursuit of the common goal of defending the team. Dani Ceballos and Gavi, protagonists of one of the main scuffles of the classic, and whose confrontation goes back to the last Super Cup final, spoke when they arrived at the concentration to iron out any differences. As explained by the madridista, everything is forgotten and surpassed.
Dani Carvajal, who was also seen facing off at the end of the game with Arnau Tenas, Barça's substitute goalkeeper, also gave an account: “They are nothing more than friction between high-voltage matches between two rivals with a long history of intense matches. Once here we defend the same shirt, we are all in the same boat and we are thinking of Norway”.
Carvajal spoke at the presentation of a new patron of the Spanish team, in an act that was also attended by Luis Rubiales. The full-back also did not want to enter into the controversy of Marco Asensio's disallowed goal with 1-1 on the scoreboard: “The other day it was thought to be offside and that's because it was like that. You have to abide by the decision and not doubt the system at any time.
The English already out of action in Haaland
The official announcement came in the form of a statement from the Norwegian Federation early yesterday morning: A pain in the English prevented Erling Haaland from continuing in the concentration of the Nordic team in Marbella, and therefore he is low for the game against Spain at La Rosaleda. The first general reaction was relief, because the striker came to this call with his team in a state of extraordinary form after scoring five goals against Leipzig in the Champions League last Wednesday and rounding off his fantastic week with another three goals against Burnley in the English Cup on Saturday. In this match Haaland was substituted just to complete the 'hat-trick', in another example of Pep Guardiola's permanent effort to protect his star as much as possible. In total, the attacker has scored 42 goals in 37 games in all competitions played since August, an average of 1,13 goals per game. To say that it was terrible is an understatement.
"Haaland was devastated when I spoke to him in the room last midnight, he was affected," revealed Stole Solbakken, the Norwegian coach, in a street near the Marbella Football Center, the Nordic team's concentration place since last Monday . The coach insisted on the player's anger at missing this game, especially because of the setting, in which Norway has come to play some home games during the last pandemic. But, as he explained, the groin pain was serious enough to send him home to be treated by his doctors. In this way, the player will not be ready for the second group match, which Norway will play against Georgia next Tuesday.
From Las Rozas, Kepa Arrizabalaga also referred to Haaland's absence. In theory, he was the man destined to stop the Norwegian ogre's shots: “A player who is making the difference, unstoppable in the last meters. But he is less involved in the creation of the game. On paper it is better that he is not there, but another striker will come out who will do well. We have to focus on the block and not on individualities”.
Beyond the fact that this pubalgia plays in favor of the interests of Spain, the fact that the Manchester City striker is not there has fallen like a jug of cold water in the province of Malaga. Tickets barely lasted a few hours on sale before the Federation announced an expected "no tickets." A good part of the attraction of the meeting lay in dealing with the debut of Luis de la Fuente with the national team, but also in the quality of the rival and his main star. Now, from the institutions they trust that the meeting will maintain the pull. Spain last played at La Rosaleda in June 2022, in a match they beat the Czech Republic 2-0, with goals from Carlos Soler and Pablo Sarabia.
