Raphinha controls the ball in a match for Barcelona
“If you are lucky enough to be in a football stadium this weekend, one of the best things you can do before the game is walk down to pitch level and watch the two teams warm up from behind the advertising hoardings. It’s where the game is at its realest. It’s where players’ first touches are velvet and where the clip of boot leather striking ball is crisper than it ever is on a Sunday morning. Watch the goalkeepers, too; their reaction speed and how shots that whistle with power die in their gloves. Better yet, watch the ball ping about inside a rondo, where each pass is perfect and knifes into a gap that barely exists. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video)