Wilmar Barris and Zenit rubbed the feat at home to defending Champions League champions Chelsea. It ended up being a triumph for the home side, but for a narrow 1-0, which ended up being largely the responsibility of the Colombian, who played a real game.
Barris played the full 90 minutes in London and was one of the best on the court with numbers that really detract: counting 3 interceptions, 3 correct innings, 6 cleared, he had 90 per cent efficiency on passes delivered (35) , had 5 rebounds, won 4 duels and completed a total of 5 successful long passes, according to data from Colombia Analytics.
📊 Wilmar Barrios vs Chelsea:
– 1 ° in clearings [6].
– 1 ° in interceptions [3].
– 1 ° in correct entries [3].
– 4 ° in successful long passes [5].
– 90% efficiency in passes [35].
– 5 recoveries.
– 4 duels won.Not bad for his presentation at Stamford Bridge. pic.twitter.com/afa6303RTA
– Colombia Analytics (@colanalytics_) September 14, 2021
He had the ungrateful task of blocking Romelu Lukaku, but it must be said that, despite the remarkable physical differences, he did so with great aplomb. The Belgian’s goal was not his responsibility.
The curious and really new thing is that for the first time he played as a third central defender, in the 5-4-1 arranged by Zenit coach Serguei Semak. And he was firm: he cleared aerial balls, cut circuits at the edge of the area and covered the area without difficulty when Chelsea got tired of lifting balls from the sides.
And this performance is necessarily a warning for Reinaldo Rueda, DT of Colombia Selection, who without thinking has won an alternative to the defense, where some inconveniences have been presented in the last days of the Qualifiers in Qatar 2022.
To be more precise: the duel against Brazil is coming, the super leader of the qualifiers, the unbeaten, the one of the band that in a blink makes you three goals and paints your face. There are two regular central defenders like Mina and Dávinson Sánchez who have suffered when they put the ball on their backs and for a guy like Carlos Costa, no matter how much he has fought against Chile, it can be a huge challenge. And the mess is that nothing can be given to Barranquilla if there are serious aspirations to reach the World Cup. Will Roda improvise? Earlier, in Chile, he used modules of three defenses and two lanes, which means that he is not closed to any possibility. This news from Barris was not in the plans, but any solution that appears will always be welcome.