In the early morning of February 18, Beijing time, in the first leg of the Europa League knockout play-off, Ferran Torres wasted at least 3 golden opportunities, and finally Barca was forced to draw 1-1 at home by Napoli. In the second half, Xavi withstood the pressure and replaced Traore with Dembele.
Traore, who played 65 minutes in the starting lineup, really didn't have any highlights except for that cross, and he wasted a one-handed chance in the first half. Originally, the shot was Traore's biggest weakness, but as a starting winger, he didn't have a successful cross, which was excessive.
In the 65th minute, Dembele came off the bench and replaced Traore, who had been on loan from Wolves. But as soon as Dembele came on the pitch, he received boos from tens of thousands of fans at camp Nou. The narrator lamented: The last person who can enjoy such treatment at Camp Nou should be former Real Madrid captain Ramos.
And in the minutes after just playing, Dembele was booed every time he took the ball, and this Bale felt the same way. Unlike Bell's case, Bale was outraged for not leaving, while Dembele was booed for refusing to renew his contract. Of course, the mood of Barca fans can also be understood. After all, it cost 135 million euros to bring in Dembele from Dortmund that year, and originally thought that the players would cut their salaries and renew their contracts, but the lion opened his mouth to ask for a sky-high annual salary of 40 million euros. After the renewal of the contract, Barca can only release people for free, and 135 million euros are directly adrift. It was rumored that Barca was going to hide Dembele, but now it is still up to him.
But from the performance point of view, Dembele did revitalize Barca's attack in front of the bench after coming on the bench, creating a lot of shooting opportunities. Commentators also admitted that Dembele's ability to stir is stronger than Traore's.
A fan said on social platforms: "I like Traore, but honestly, he is not a high-grade player with Dembele. A healthy Dembele can definitely make Barca stronger. ”