Nico González had in his hand a piece of paper. Time was running out and unless they could do something about this – and fast – Barcelona were going to lose a Catalan derby at Cornellá for the first time in La Liga. It had taken them only 73 seconds to score one, but in 73 minutes they hadn’t got a second. Worse, Espanyol had. Sergi Darder curled in a gorgeous equaliser and then Raúl de Tomás put them ahead, meditating cross-legged on the grass ignoring the madness all around him. Xavi Hernández, though, had a plan, written down and sent by special delivery.
Trouble was, writing it was one thing, reading it another. And actually getting it to come off, well, that was a step again. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had already replaced Frenkie de Jong. There were 18 minutes left when Nico and Ousmane Dembélé replaced Gavi and Jordi Alba. It was 25 days since Dembélé had been given an ultimatum: renew or leave; needed now, the man who was never going to play again ran back on at his club’s city rivals, where a reception less hostile than at home awaited him. Alongside, the kid from the academy came too.
