What a disaster.
Barcelona have wasted the chance to go top of the table and no longer control their destiny in the La Liga title race thanks to a shocking 2-1 loss to Granada at Camp Nou. Barça were excellent for 60 minutes and wasted a lot of chances to kill the game early, and a disastrous 15-minute period was enough to concede two bad goals and deliver a giant blow to their championship hopes.
FIRST HALF
Barça were in control from the start, dominating possession and doing a great job stopping Granada from bringing a threat on the counter. The visitors defended with intensity and committed a lot of tactical fouls to try and break up the rhythm, which worked to a degree as Barça struggled to create real chances in the first 20 minutes.
Then Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann combined beautifully inside the box before the captain found the bottom corner, and Barça had the lead. The Blaugrana improved after scoring, pressing higher up the pitch and recovering the ball in dangerous positions.
Messi almost had a second but Escandell made a great save, and Leo had two other dangerous shots blocked by the Granada backline to stop him from getting what could have easily been a first half hat-trick.
At halftime, Barça were dominant and deservedly ahead but the lead was slim and they still needed to keep the foot on the gas to finish the job in the second half.
SECOND HALF
Barça started the second half well, with Sergio Busquets running the show with some excellent passes and the midfield making great runs into the box. Griezmann and Sergi Roberto had two big chances, but their shots didn’t hit the target and after an hour it started to feel like Barça could play for all the missed opportunities.
And they did, in a big way: first it was Machís who took advantage of a mistake by Óscar Mingueza to find himself one-on-one with Ter Stegen and score the equalizer. Three minutes later Ronald Koeman was given a straight red card for dissent, and 15 minutes after that Molina headed home a cross from the left and Barça had fallen apart at home.
They had 10 minutes to find at least an equalizer to still control their destiny, but Barça had a lot of desperation and zero ideas and the final whistle came to end a disaster night for the Blaugrana. They are still alive in the league, but this is quite the blow.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Mingueza (Pedri 72’), Piqué, Umtiti; Roberto, De Jong, Busquets (Trincão 81’), Ilaix (Dembélé 72’), Alba; Messi, Griezmann
Goal: Messi (23’)
Granada: Escandell; Foulquier, Díaz, Sánchez, Nehuén, Quini; Herrera, Eteki (Gonalons 61’); Suárez, Soldado (Molina 61’), Machís (Marín 75’)
Goals: Machís (63’), Molina (79’)
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