to go by (used to talk about time): the weeks have passed so slowly.to give something to someone: he passed me a message from Hugh.to go by someone or something and to continue away from he, she, or it: he passed her in the street without recognizing her we passed the theater on the way to the station.to move or to make something move in a particular direction: the procession passed along the road I passed my bag through the X-ray machine.We passed the Arc de Triomphe on our walk today.This time Barcelona were not to drop points on one of their rare off-days, as has occurred countless of times in this difficult season the luck of the champions, if such a thing exists, returned in the nick of time.Passed is the past tense verb of "to pass." Only ever use it as a verb in sentences. They were given the fright of their life on Saturday, and the breakthrough came with a stroke of fortune rarely seen at this level. Luis Enrique's team will not be fooled by the eventually comfortable result. It was a veritable vortex of spoiling efforts, an inception of ruining one's day that only Leo Di Caprio could effectively investigate. Thanks to Jurado, however, and Suarez's lethal finishing, the away team did just enough to spoil the celebrations for the consummate spoilers. At half-time Espanyol's support was jubilant, readying a display of collective schadenfreude on a monumental scale as Barca teetered on the brink of oblivion. The result logically left the Cornella Prat deflated. Only at 3-0 up, courtesy of another marauding run from Messi and Suarez's neat close-range finish, did Barcelona ensure they live to fight another day. Messi finally managed to shake off his Perico entourage long enough to slice through the middle of the defence, opening a space unseen for the previous 75 minutes and allowing Ivan Rakitic to fire the second past Lopez. Only in the dying stages of the game, with Espanyol already wheezing after a positively superhuman effort, was the game put out of reach. It failed, however, to inspire Barcelona to better things. Suarez's gift of a goal knocked the wind out of the hosts for most of the second half. Panicked, sloppy and bereft of ideas in the final third, the Portuguese fell back down to earth following a fine game against Osasuna and once more invited the suspicion that he is little more than a pale shadow of Andres Iniesta. Only Neymar, with a few flashes of brilliance down the left, threatened to escape the vice and create, while Lionel Messi was subjected for the vast majority of the game to a double marking job from Diego Reyes and Javier Fuego up there with the most effective defensive displays against the ever-threatening Pulga.įurther back down the pitch Andre Gomes had another one of those games that leave Barca fans wondering just what the Blaugrana board ever saw in him. While Espanyol played a dangerous, physical defensive game, they also quite legally suffocated everything their rivals could create from the moment of inception. The Argentine escaped a yellow card for his misdemeanour, and plenty of Perico players also lived on the edge with the connivance of permissive match official Alberto Mallenco, an old bogey man of the Catalans.īut neither can Barca point to a refereeing conspiracy for their lack of potency. Well-drilled and intensely motivated, they set out to hit anything that moved in a Barca shirt, Sergi Roberto finding out sooner than most with a crunching hit from Pablo Piatti that left the midfielder wincing.
There was nothing particularly ingenious about the Espanyol plan. But Barcelona should be counting their lucky stars after a game that ranks with those Champions League blowouts against Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus as their very worst of the season. Anything other than a win for the reigning champions would all but spark the celebration parties in the Spanish capital, leaving Barca's challenge all but over.Īs it stands, the champagne will remain on ice at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Espanyol were desperate to scupper Barcelona's bid to keep up with Madrid at the Liga summit, with that extra game the Merengue still hold going into the season's final stages heavy on the minds of all involved. Quique Sanchez Flores' men welcomed their rivals to the Estadi Cornella Prat with one goal, and only one, in mind. Gabriel Jesus exclusive: Arsenal's new £45m signing out to 'win everything' - but not become the new Thierry Henry.Another mess at Man Utd: Ronaldo bombshell rocks Ten Hag's transfer plans.Vitor Roque: Brazilian football has found its new Ronaldo.Man Utd's possible Ronaldo replacements: From Neymar to Kane.
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