Barcelona added another stumble in the Spanish Championship this Saturday. Hosting Alavés, at Camp Nou, for the 12th round of the competition, the Catalan team did not have an eye-opening performance and had to settle for a 1-1 draw. Memphis Depay opened the scoring for the hosts with a great goal from outside the area. Rioja, also in a beautiful move, equaled for the visitors.
With the result, Barça remains far from the top positions in the table, appearing in ninth place, with 16 ponyos. In 11 games, the Blaugrana team has four wins, four draws and three defeats.
Now, Barcelona turns its focus to the Champions League. Next Tuesday, the team visits Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine, for the fourth round of the group stage. Barça are third in their group, behind Bayern Munich, the leader, and Benfica.
The first half didn’t have many motions. Barcelona, playing at home, tried to create some scoring opportunities, but ran into organized Alaves. In the final stretch of the first half, Aguero ended up feeling it and was replaced by Philippe Coutinho, who gave more dynamics on the left side in the last minutes, but nothing to change the score.
In the second half, the game got busier. After just three minutes, Alba found Depay on the edge of the area, and the Dutchman hit with category, at the angle, to open the scoring for the hosts. But the joy of the Catalans was short-lived. At six, Riojas lined up at the entrance to the area, scored, dribbled Ter Stegen and pushed into the back of the net, leaving everything the same.
Needing victory at any cost, Barcelona continued in attack and at 13 minutes almost regained the advantage. After Gavi’s good play, Depay went right in front of the goal and hit the top, stamping the crossbar.
In the final minutes, Philippe Coutinho still had a great opportunity to guarantee the victory and emerge as the hero of the match with a free kick in the entrance to the area. But, even in a privileged position, the midfielder ended up sending him over the goal. So, it was up to Barcelona to settle for a draw with Alavés at Camp Nou.
Check out other Spanish Championship results from this Saturday:
Elche 1 x 2 Real Madrid
Seville 2 x 0 Osasuna
Valencia 2 x 0 Villarreal
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Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
