Ter Stegen's comeback: Barcelona turns around deficit in Valladolid

Goalscorers among themselves: Barcelona's match-winner Raphinha and Fermin. IMAGO/Guillermo Martinez

After the furious 3-3 draw in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Inter Milan, FC Barcelona wanted to underline their ambitions for the Spanish league title and master this mandatory task at La Liga bottom club Real Valladolid.

Valladolid's interim coach Alvaro Rubio made four changes following the recent 5-1 defeat at Real Betis . Candela, Özkacar, Ivan Sanchez, and Sylla replaced Luis Perez, Javi Sanchez, Chuki, and Juanmi Latasa in the starting lineup.

Barca coach Hansi Flick , meanwhile, unsurprisingly rotated his squad after the Inter game. Only Martin and Pedri started in Champions League action during the week. It was also notable that ter Stegen returned to goal for the Catalans for the first time after an eight-month injury layoff .

But the match began with a surprise for ter Stegen and his teammates. The bottom-of-the-table side started the first few minutes with a lot of pressure on goal, taking the lead in the fifth minute with a goal from Ivan Sanchez. After that, Barca pressed the hosts back, attempting to break through Valladolid's deep defense with numerous short touches.

The hosts tried to focus on counterattacks and even had a chance to make it 2-0 through Moro (12th minute). Overall, however, the Catalans continued to apply pressure – and Pau Victor had their first big opportunity shortly after (16th minute). FCB remained the clearly dominant team, but due to their heavy rotation, they rarely threatened inside the penalty area. It took until the 31st minute for Ansu Fati to create another dangerous shot.

The picture barely changed in the second half. Barcelona tried hard, but their first real chance of the second half came from a Raphinha free kick (53'). Just a minute later, Raphinha broke the deadlock again, equalizing for the Blaugrana (54'). After that, the Catalans' spell seemed to be broken. Flick's team continued to pass the ball back and forth around the hosts' penalty area, looking for a gap. This opened up in the 62nd minute when Martin found Fermin, who slotted home to make it 2-1.

Valladolid were completely out of the game. The already relegated side were just trying to avoid the worst and were lucky in the 69th minute when Fort hit the post. After that, Barca also slowed down considerably. Lamine Yamal, who had already been brought on as a substitute towards the end of the first half, was denied another great opportunity by his own efforts (81st minute).

stadium	New José Zorrilla
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