Less than per week after a demoralizing loss to Bayern Munich within the Champions League, Barcelona faltered at Camp Nou once more, being held by winless Granada 1-1 within the Spanish league.
Barcelona wanted a Ninetieth-minute equalizer by defender Ronald Araujo, sparking jeers by many within the crowd of practically 27,000 on Monday.
The setback adopted the 3-0 rout by Bayern within the workforce’s first defeat since dropping Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain, and added stress on coach Ronald Koeman and membership president Joan Laporta.
Granada got here to Barcelona winless in 4 matches and coming off two consecutive losses, together with at residence towards Real Betis within the Andalucia derby final week. It defeated Barcelona at Camp Nou the final time they met in April.
“It’s a shame,” Araujo mentioned.
“If we had been able to score earlier we could have gotten the victory. After the early goal they sat back on defense and that made it difficult for us.”
The draw left Barcelona in seventh place, 5 factors from chief Real Madrid with a sport in hand.
Coached by former Spain supervisor Robert Moreno, Granada opened the scoring two minutes into the match with a header by Domingos Duarte off a set-piece.
Back within the XI. 💪💪 @Phil_Coutinho pic.twitter.com/RAwJh9HS1i
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 20, 2021
Barcelona squandered two nice possibilities to equalize earlier than halftime Sergi Roberto hit the crossbar from inside the realm and Araujo’s header was brilliantly saved by Granada goalkeeper Luis Maximiano.
Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong additionally did not capitalize on scoring possibilities within the second half, however Araujo lastly broke by means of with a close-range header within the Ninetieth.
“We know that Barca isn’t going through a good moment and it was important to try to take advantage of that early on,” Duarte mentioned.
“Earning a point at Camp Nou is always good but we came close to getting the three points. In the end they had many chances too. It was a fair result.”
Koeman couldn’t rely on a number of gamers due to accidents, together with Jordi Alba and Pedri Gonzalez.
He added a couple of kids within the second half, together with Riqui Puig and 17-year-old Gavi, who arrange Araújo’s equalizer. Philippe Coutinho was one of many gamers changed.
Veteran defender Gerard Pique performed as a striker after coming into the sport within the remaining minutes.
