Jasper Cillessen leads Barcelona to Catalan Super Cup win
By Laieke Abebe
After the match finished scoreless in regulation, Jasper Cillessen finished the deal with a penalty save to help Barcelona win the Catalan Super Cup.
Despite not getting to play much, Dutch goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen helped Barcelona defeat local rival Espanyol for the Catalan Super Cup on Wednesday night. The number two goalkeeper was called in to start this match while Marc Andre ter Stegen was given a rest. He made many good saves in regulation to keep Espanyol off the board. In the cup matches, Cillessen has proven to be a solid goalkeeper for Barca and has played up to expectations.
Overall the match ended scoreless after 90 minutes so a penalty shootout was needed to decide a winner. Barca got the early advantage when Sergi Darder missed his kick. After four Barca players made their penalties, Jasper Cillessen shut the door on Barca’s local rivals. He saved the last shot from Jose Manuel Jurado as the Blaugrana won 4-2 in the shootout.
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Despite the win, Denis Suarez was forced off the pitch due to a groin injury. He will be out for a few weeks. Suarez left the field before the first half ended and the injury is a tough blow for the Barca midfield. He hasn’t gotten on the pitch for the first team since the 1-0 defeat against Espanyol in Copa Del Rey action a few months ago.
Andres Iniesta is already injured, Philippe Coutinho can’t play in the Champions League because he’s cup tied, and now the youngster picks up this injury. Overall, this injury comes at a big time for Barca as they are preparing for the matches against Malaga and Chelsea. Carles Aleña got to take Denis’ place in training on Thursday with the first team.
In addition to Paco Alcacer, Sergi Palencia, Yerry Mina and Abel Ruiz all scored their penalty kicks. However, Sergi Darder missed his penalty over the bar for Espanyol before Jurado’s kick was saved. Despite resting some of the big names, Valverde named eight first team players including Mina, Ousmane Dembele, Aleix Vidal, and Andre Gomes. In the end, this match was good for the first team players to get their fitness level back up. Some of these guys will be called on down the stretch of the season.
Next: Gerard Pique trains with first team
Overall, it was nice to see the youngsters mix with the first team players to get the job done against Espanyol. Now, Barcelona can look ahead to this weekends fixture against Malaga in La Liga action. This could be another chance for some first team players that haven’t played much to get some run against a struggling team at the bottom of the table.