Against Granada it was very Setién. It was also very Barcelona, in a move driven by nostalgia, but with a glimpse of the future
Nine hundred and ninety-eight … 999… 1,000. And still it went. Jordi Alba played the ball to Riqui Puig, who played it to Sergi Busquets, who played it to Arthur Melo, who played it to Sergi Roberto, who played it to Gerard Piqué. Who, finally halted on 100, didn’t get the chance to play it to anyone else. Half an hour before his first game as coach of Barcelona, Quique Setién had sat on the bench alongside his assistant Éder Sarabia, empty seats rising around them, still barely able to believe they were here, and silently contemplated the players – his players – warming up with a ball at their feet. Two and a half hours later, standing now, collar turned up against the cold, when the final whistle went it was still there.
“I’ve seen some of the things I wanted,” Setién said afterwards and others had too, although not all of them. Above all, he had seen the thing he says all players want and always have, right back to the playground: the ball. Barcelona won 1-0 on his debut against Granada but there were other numbers that occupied everyone. Piqué was one of four players to reach 100 passes, 98 of them accurate. Rakitic had only been two away from making it five; Lionel Messi was seven away. Puig had played more passes than all of Granada’s players – and he had only been on the pitch 22 minutes. Busquets had played more than all of them put together. His 157 was a record this season.
Related: Which football team have completed the most passes in a match? | The Knowledge
Lovely team goal finished off by Messi to grab all 3 points for Barca
Leo Messi has now scored the first goal of Tito Villanova, Tata Martino, Luis Enrique, Ernesto Valverde & Quique Setien's tenures.
A sign of things to come? pic.twitter.com/px2ZMgoLUh
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Barcelona 1-0 Granada, A Bilbao 1-1 Celta Vigo, Villarreal 1-2 Espanyol, Real Betis 3-0 Real Sociedad, Mallorca 4-1 Valencia, Eibar 2-0 Atlético, Osasuna 0-0 Valladolid, Real Madrid 2-1 Sevilla, Levante 0-1 Alavés, Leganés 0-3 Getafe
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