This Week in Barça B: Dreams Dashed

Barcelona’s youth affiliate arrived in the city of Seville last Sunday desperate for three points to keep their small hopes of promotion alive against Sevilla Atlético. A victory would put Barça just a point or two away from fifth place, the final playoff spot, with two games to go.

But things didn’t go according to plan. Sevilla scored two first half goals, went down to 10 men, but still managed to survive a Barça B blitz in the second half and only allowed a late goal to Santi Ramos Mingo to pick up all three points and pretty much end Barça’s dreams.

The defeat left Barça four points away from fifth place with two games to go, which mathematically still means they have a small chance. But in reality the young Blaugrana have virtually no shot: they are 11th in the table, meaning they need to win the final two games and hope that six other teams lose their last couple of matches.

It would be the miracle of all miracles, so all that’s left for Sergi Barjuan’s young troops is to finish the season with two good performances, two wins and some dignity after what has been a very difficult campaign.

Barça B will play their home finale against 12th-place Castellón at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, knowing that anything other than a win will officially end their promotion hopes. It’s truly a must-win, as they say.