Barcelona were not able to hold on to their lead as they conceded a last-minute equalizer at Los Carmenes.
Granada held Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in their La Liga game on Saturday. Xavi Hernandez’s side suffered another underwhelming result as they slipped to sixth place in La Liga.
A game-changing red card!
Barcelona controlled the possession during the first half, but they were not able to create enough chances. On the other hand, Granada played with enough intensity to prevent Barca from scoring. However, they were not eager to push for the opener themselves.
Following a tame first half, Barcelona intensified their efforts to score the opening goal. A perfect cross from Dani Alves found Luuk De Jong, who smashed the ball past Luis Maximiano with a header.
The pace of the game dropped significantly after Barca’s goal. Until a reckless foul from Gavi in the 79th minute changed the direction of the game. Following a tackle on Alex Collado, the referee sent the youngster out with a second yellow card. The Spaniard will also miss the upcoming El Clasico on Wednesday.
Granada pushed for the equalizer as soon as Barcelona went a man down. Following a half-cleared corner, Antonio Puertas smashed the ball past Marc Andre ter Stegen with a precise shot.
The hosts even came close to finding the match-winner in the final minutes of the game. However, they eventually settled for a draw against the Catalans.
Barcelona slip back to sixth place on the La Liga table after another underwhelming performance under Xavi. The Spanish coach will now prepare to face Real Madrid for the first time as a coach on Wednesday.
On the other hand, Granada continued their impressive run of seven unbeaten games in La Liga. Next up for the Andalusian side is a game against Getafe on Thursday.
Player Ratings
Granada: Maximiano (5); Quini (5), Diaz (6), Torrente (6), Neva (6); Gonalons (6), Milla (7), Puertas (8); Machis (6), Suarez (7), Molina (6).
Bench: Montoro (7), Escudero (6), Collado (7), Duarte (6), Bacca (6).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen (6); Alves (7), Pique (7), Garcia (6), Alba (6); Busquets (7), Gonzalez (6), Gaviria (5); Dembele (7), L. De Jong (7), Jutgla (6).
Bench: Sanz (6), Depay (5), Ezzalzouli (5), Lenglet (6).
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