Big-hearted friendly opens Barca’s post-Neymar era
BARCELONA — Barcelona eased into life without Neymar on Monday by honoring Chapecoense, the Brazilian side still reeling from a devastating plane crash that killed 19 players and 24 club officials last year.
On an emotional night that saw Barca score a 5-0 friendly victory, Chapecoense was captained by Alan Ruschel, one of only three players to survive the crash, on his return to action.
All proceeds from the match will “help Chapecoense rebuild institutionally and recover the competitive level it had before the tragedy”, Barca said in a statement.
Ruschel was joined by the two other survivors, Nieto and Jakson Follmann, from the squad that was on its way to face Atletico Nacional in the final of the Copa Sudamericana when the aircraft crashed into the Colombian mountains on Nov 28 last year, killing 71 people.
Nieto and Follmann, who had his right leg amputated after the crash, both broke down in tears as they were invited to participate in the honorary kickoff in front of a crowd of 65,000 at Camp Nou.
“I am filled with happiness to be returning to play,” Ruschel told Spanish newspaper Marca.
“I am one of the happiest people in the world because I am living something almost unthinkable. I consider myself fortunate to be in Spain, facing Barcelona, playing in a stadium where I never thought I would be.”
Ruschel also got a souvenir to savor when he swapped shirts with five-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi after the match.
Ruschel was given the unenviable task of facing up to Messi on his return and despite the sentimentality of the occasion, Barca didn’t let up once the match got underway.
On a sporting level the Catalan giant has had a turbulent week, with star Brazilian forward Neymar joining Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday for a world-record $264 million transfer fee.
Barca is expected to splash some of that cash in the coming weeks with a host of players rumored to be on the radar to fill Neymar’s boots, including fellow Brazilian Philippe Coutinho of Liverpool and Ousmane Dembele of Borussia Dortmund.
Gerard Deulofeu made his case to at least keep his place in the lineup for Sunday’s Spanish Super Cup first leg against Real Madrid with a goal and two assists before halftime.
The former Everton winger opened the scoring with a tap-in after neat work from Ivan Rakitic and his cut-back was then curled into the top corner by Sergio Busquets to make it 2-0 inside of 11 minutes.
“It has been an incredible experience; they deserve to be here and have enjoyed this marvelous day,” said Deulofeu.
“They are heroes. When I think about what happened to them, I start to cry.”
Messi got his goal when he slotted home Deulofeu’s low cross before Ruschel was given a standing ovation as he was substituted after 35 minutes.
Barca understandably took its foot off the gas after halftime, but Luis Suarez finally managed to get his name on the scoresheet from Messi’s pass 10 minutes after the break before Denis Suarez rounded off the scoring.