Bryan Zaragoza finds his feet again to tie Barcelona’s second string in knots | La Liga

“handThese things are within me,” Brian Zaragoza said. “You don't learn this, you have it. And I have it.'' La Liga's second smallest player, at 5ft 5in tall, the fun-loving player is more than just a prankster. He had a smile on his face. He just went and did it again. A cheeky man with a twinkle in his eye and a twinkle in his toes who grew up worshiping Lionel Messi, watching videos of Ronaldinho, following Neymar and playing soccer on the streets of Malaga on December 4th. The boy left Barcelona on the floor. once again. This was a prank.

In early October 2023, Brian scored twice against unbeaten Barcelona en route to a 2-2 draw against Granada, and his life changed forever. A year later, his life took a turn for the better as he once again led undefeated Barcelona away, scoring once and scoring another on the way to Osasuna's 4-2 victory. 2 games, 1 assist, 3 goals, Can I play every week? only goal night is not right Los Carmenes then and then El Sadar I had it now. Brian called Osasuna's first win over Barcelona in 12 years a “magical victory”, emulating Diego Maradona's feat 40 years ago when he scored twice, and described it as their most memorable victory to date. It became. That definitely doesn't justify what he did.

And what Brian did was, well, Brian. Not a product of the academy, he was always a little different. He played in the Sala of Soccer for the Cruz de Humladero, run by Brahim Díaz's father, Sufiel, but he played mainly on the streets of Malaga's poorest neighborhoods, doing things that others could not do, and I was doing things I shouldn't have done. As Tiro de Pichon coach Pepe Zamora admitted, it's a place where “conflicts” can easily occur and children are “difficult to coach”, but Brian is the right player for it. “There are no more street football players. “What's there is a robot,” Zamora told Marca, “not Brian.” Another childhood coach, Fran Alcoy, described him as a Garrincha. And Poli Ejido's manager, Tito Garcia, said he seemed like something from another time and place, like a soccer player from the slums.

Brian was with fourth division side Poli Ejido on loan from Granada B in 2020. After being rejected numerous times, including by Málaga, he joined Granada at the age of 18, but the team were unsure whether he would succeed. Another world. He had just started his first season when he played against Barcelona. Primeraa place some wonder if he even belongs. he took them segundabut this was something else, or so it will be. Instead, the Catalan followed with three goals and one assist in eight weeks. Brian scored 17 seconds later and again in the 30th minute. Jules Kounde had never been dribbled through all season. Brian did it twice in the same move, tying a comic knot.

Now, 12 months later, Iñaki Pena is left bewildered, wondering where the ball went and how it landed in the goal. Brian had put Osasuna in the lead on Saturday with a great cross for Ante Budimir, but suddenly they were back on track. Approaching Barcelona's goalkeeper, he rolled the ball under his studs, waltzed past the players who turned away, and pushed it into the open net. It was so simple that it might have been better to just wink at it halfway through. “It's inside and it just comes out,” he said, securing a 4-2 victory and finally defeating Barcelona.

Barcelona had won seven of seven games by the time they arrived in Pamplona. One more would match their best start to a season under coach Tata Martino, when they started eight of eight games. However, Hansi Flick decided to rotate the team. With eight injuries and the Champions League (sixth game in 17 days) coming up on Tuesday, the starting five of Alex Balde, Marc Casado, Rafinha, Lamine Yamal and Iñigo Martínez will be removed. After resting, both started on the bench. Their center backs were 17 and 19 years old, and their full backs were 22 years old. Their average age was just over 23, even when Robert Lewandowski was on the pitch. And even though there was still a chance of a comeback, Lewandowski was sent off with the score 2-1. Chase. “Ini is the only defender with experience, but he has played a lot of minutes,'' Flick said before the match. Afterwards he said: There was no other choice. ”

Although his reasoning was reasonable, it was not entirely true and rational. It was a little surprising to prioritize Young Boys over Osasuna, but they can't afford to make a mistake on Tuesday after losing their first Champions League match. The same goes for prioritizing Getafe at home over Osasuna. “I was told by the staff that this is normal against Getafe,” he revealed after a tough win in midweek, a game he really wanted to win. There may have been a similar warning here. there's something special El Sadaralready a classic hard to reach place It has recently been redeveloped and is one of only two sites with rail seating. Although Osasuna did not win away games, they were undefeated at home with three wins in four matches. Barcelona's last run also ended there.

And they had Brian. He needed this, he needed them, he awakened something inside him and brought it out. The last time he played for Barcelona, ​​he received an international call-up just nine games into his top-flight career and moved to Bayern Munich for 15 million euros. That was it. There's something almost inevitable about things going wrong, and there was something off about Bayern's Brian. Thomas Tuchel didn't seem convinced and wasn't particularly helpful. This was not a dressing room for Spanish speakers. “When I got there, I couldn't believe where I was,” he admitted. “I saw all the top players I was looking at, Harry Kane, Thomas Muller, Jamal Musiala.'' He played just 171 minutes. For this reason, he initially said he was not keen on a loan move, but this summer he accepted a return. Osasuna paid him a rental fee of 200,000 euros during the season.

He has played more than three times as many minutes as he did in Spain. There were shocking moments and flashes of who he was, but something was missing. This weekend, he scored his first goal again for Barcelona. “It wasn't that bad before, but now it's not that good,” he claimed. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t had a good time. I knew the expectations were high, but I didn’t start the way I wanted. I didn’t have any bad games, but I didn’t have any good games, and the fans They have always supported me, and today I wanted to repay them.'' When he scored the second goal, he wiggled his fingers as if they were stuck in a drawer. Wowbefore putting it to your ear. Just listen to the noise, El Sadar Go wild. Then he stood there shrugging his shoulders like a Brahim. How about that? That, my friend, is truly wonderful.

It wasn't just him, it was everything. El Sadarespecially. This was Osasuna's fourth win in five games this season. No player in Europe has scored more points at home. Barcelona's rotation was unaffected by this. “We are a humble club and it's not every day that we beat Barcelona,” Brian insisted. “This was a night that will stay with me forever,” said coach Vicente Moreno, a night that “had to be perfect and everything worked out.” Brian's goal tore apart Barcelona and gave Osasuna a 2-0 lead, giving his team a chance to come back early in the second half, but then Abel Bretones, who learned everything at Real Oviedo, scored the third goal. Budimir scored the fourth goal. penalty spot. A great late attack from Lamine made it 4-2. “The effort from the players was great,” Coach Moreno said.

The headline “Osasuna devours children'' was published in the AS newspaper. Diario de Navarra called it “legendary”. Forward Ruben Garcia asked, not knowing what to call it. The next morning, he wrote on social media: “Please complete the phrase.” “Yesterday…” Jesus Arezo did the same. “Headline, please,” he requested. “Let’s make some noise!” Budimir wrote. Standing by the dressing room door, Pablo Ibáñez smiled and said he had a great night ahead of him. “We're celebrating this. It's been a while since we had a day off, and tomorrow is another day off, so we're going to do the best we can.'' As for Moreno, he was out of the house. “I'm going to go back and sit on the sofa, watch the highlights of the other games, calm down for a few hours and then think about Getafe,'' he said. “And maybe I can be a little nicer to living with my family.”

As for Brian Zaragoza, there was a sparkle in his eyes as he sat in the press room reliving another great night against Barcelona. “Have a nice weekend,” he said, getting up and leaving. “i will do it.”