Barcelona handed over a win in LaLiga on Saturday night. On a visit to Granada, the team of coach Xavi seemed to take off with a victory, but in the ninetieth minute Antonio Puertas undone Luuk de Jong’s earlier goal: 1-1. Los Azulgrana played with ten men from the eightieth minute after a red card from Gavi and succumbed to the pressure of the home team. For the time being, Barcelona remains the number six in Spain, while los Nazaries standing twelfth.
Memphis Depay was in the squad for the first time since December 8, when he suffered a muscle injury in the Champions League game against Bayern Munich. Sergiño Dest also returned to the match selection after a corona infection. However, both Dutchmen started from the bench. Frenkie de Jong injured his calf in the last competition match with RCD Mallorca (0-1) and was absent. Dani Alves also made his comeback in LaLiga and Ousmane Dembélé also got a basic place.
Luuk de Jong is doing it again! ?? The Dutch striker saw his first goal disallowed, but the second really counts, right??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #GranadaBarça pic.twitter.com/i7DuQkt8P0
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 8, 2022
De Jong showed that he is full of confidence after he turned out to be a match winner in the previous round. In the eighth minute of play, the striker thought he could also open the score against Granada. After a cross from Ferran Jutglà, De Jong made it 0-1 with a header, but after viewing the video images, it appeared that Gavi was offside in the build-up of the attack: goal disallowed. Ten minutes later, the Dutchman showed himself again. This time Jordi Alba acted as declarant and De Jong hoped with a real scorpion kick to score, but his chop went just over.
Halfway through the first act, the spotlight was once again on the rush hour. Dembélé had a splitting cross pass to De Jong from the right side of the field, who seemed to take the ball well. However, he was pushed in the back by Raúl Torrente, which brought the attacker off balance to such an extent that taking out was no longer an option. The call for a penalty kick was brushed aside by both referee Pablo González and the VAR. Granada became dangerous in the 26th minute. Darwin Machis cut in and produced a deflected shot by Alves; Goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen reacted alertly, however, and tapped the ball from the bottom corner.
Just like the final phase of the first half, the opening minutes after the break were not pleasing to the eye for the neutral viewer. Barring a few pinpricks, we had to wait for a first serious opportunity for one of the two teams. That opportunity came in the 57th minute of play. Alves took possession of the ball on the right wing and delivered a measured cross to De Jong. The striker made excellent use of his qualities and made it 0-1 with a header. His timing was perfect, as he was taken off in favor of Depay immediately after his goal.
Oh Gavi huh?? The young midfielder is booked for the second time and is allowed to leave the field ?? Will Barcelona take the win? ??#ZiggoSport #LaLiga #GranadaBarça pic.twitter.com/By9IOxuBZK
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) January 8, 2022
The victory was still far from within reach. Granada became dangerous several times, although an outstanding Alves was able to prevent hits, among other things. Fifteen minutes before the end, Barcelona had a good chance at the 0-2. Substitute Ez Abde took advantage of Depay’s running action and cut in from the left after a lightning-fast counter. He looked for the far corner, but his effort curled just wide of the right post. Then Barca got into trouble. Gavi was already balked in the first half for a hard foul in midfield, and he was booked again in the eightieth minute. This time he was too late to intercept the ball and tackled from behind the lower leg of Álex Collado; Barcelona was left with ten men.
Granada smelled blood from the numerical superiority and increased the pressure on Ter Stegen’s goal. After a few fortunate moments, disaster struck for Barcelona in the ninetieth minute. After a corner from the left, the ball suddenly landed at the feet of Antonio Puertas. The number ten reacted alertly and shot hard in the intersection: 1-1. The Catalans were unable to recover in stoppage time.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Real Madrid | 21 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 49 |
| 2 | Seville | 20 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 44 |
| 3 | Real Betis | 20 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 34 |
| 4 | Atletico Madrid | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 33 |
| 5 | Real Sociedada | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 33 |
| 6 | Barcelona | 20 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 32 |
| 7 | Rayo Vallecano | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 31 |
| 8 | Villarreal | 20 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 29 |
| 9 | Athletic Club | 21 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 28 |
| 10 | Valencia | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 28 |
| 11 | Espanyol | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 26 |
| 12 | Osasuna | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | -5 | 25 |
| 13 | Granada | 20 | 5 | 9 | 6 | -3 | 24 |
| 14 | Celta de Vigo | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | -1 | 23 |
| 15 | Real Majorca | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 | -13 | 20 |
| 16 | Elche | 20 | 4 | 7 | 9 | -8 | 19 |
| 17 | getafe | 20 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -8 | 18 |
| 18 | Alaves | 20 | 4 | 5 | 11 | -14 | 17 |
| 19 | Cadiz | 20 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -19 | 14 |
| 20 | Levante | 20 | 1 | 8 | 11 | -20 | 11 |