This is not the first name that we will remember, in 10, 15 or 20 years, when it will be necessary to quote the eleven holders of the Inter and Barça of this round trip of the Champions League Entering the legend, since last Wednesday and a little more this Tuesday evening. Gerard Martín does not have the Blase of a football hero, even less if he is pronounced in French. He does not have the first name or the name of someone to take seriously. Gérard Martin, what. There are full the directory, full of the white pages, full of the yellow pages, Gérard Martin, Martin Gérard or even Martine Gérard, it’s your choice. The vast majority-except the few who received a phone call straight from a drafting this Monday afternoon-did not have a wind of the existence of a Spanish namesake, ready to find itself once again in the very large courtyard, in the most beautiful of club competitions.
Heroes are needed in this kind of moments of history, Francesco Acerbi and Yann Sommer are part of it, as Raphinha believed to be able to become the goal from 3-2 to 88e minute. Unhappy heroes are needed, too, which are the Catalans after having participated in a double confrontation which will remain in the memories and which could claim the title of the craziest semi-finals in the history of the C1. Again, Gerard Martín, 23 years old and not left straight from the Catalan training center, is not the first one we think of. Lamine Yamal, 17 years old and an abominable cup, will have been dazzling, breathtaking, stunning. This kid is the future of this sport, the one who will enchant the youngest and the oldest, who want to believe that football and his drifts will not make him lose the essential. There is Pedri, always fair, always clean. There is Raphinha or Dani Olmo, decisive at the right times after having disappointed. And there is Gerard Martín, the one we did not expect.
He is undoubtedly the first to have dizziness, between the outward and this return, and to know that it was not yet made for these altitudes. Hansi Flick was responsible for making him understand this last week, leaving him at the break, after seeing the replacement for Alejandro Balde take the water against Denzel Dumfries, among others. The German technician could have reoffended this Tuesday evening in Milan, as the left side suffered in the first period, recalling his limits and his obvious gaps. He did not do it, he even left it until the end of the 120 minutes. Thinking of having done well, on the return from the locker room, when Gerard Martín hunted the mockery by presenting his left foot for three perfect centers, two of which hit the bull’s eye for Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo. Two assists in a semi-final of the Champions League, without warning, after having almost flowed for 45 minutes.
It’s not just cracks in football
This is also what makes football, a bad one that turns into good time for an action. Or two. Or three. These are not just cracks, the types programmed and too strong, the Yamal and Pedri. These are the others, too. The least good, those who should not be there or which one wonders how they did to get there. The young Gerard Martín may not imagine himself in this world, this evening in January 2021, when he had crossed in the King Cup the road to the Barça de Martin Braithwaite, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembélé or Riqui Puig with his team from Cornellance, a resident of the Spanish third division (a defeat 0-2 after printing, defending Trinch). We imagine it more in this FC Barcelona (where we also found Konrad de la Fuente) than in the current one, to be honest.
-However, Gerard Martín is there. He won his place in the Flick group, after arriving in the summer of 2023 to feel the ball with the Rafa Márquez reserve. Here it is today associated with a semi-final of the Champions League that no one is close to forget, in a season at 38 appearances all competitions with the possible future Spanish champion. Gerard Martín is another symbol of this Barça, funny mix between esthetes, balloon geniuses, great players and others much larger. Ronald Araújo, Pau Victor or Hector Fort (18, everyone is not Yamal) do not dream either and their entries did not help the Blaugrana.
“I started my season badly, then I gradually won in confidence and regularity, Recently explained Martín to the press. At first, the pressure was strong, it was complicated for me. Now, I adapted myself well. » To the point of having won an extension until 2028 in January and now a small place, at least, in this football moment that we will remember for a long time.
For Barcelona, the real culprit is all found and it is not (that) Araujo
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