Barcelona crumbled under pressure once again as they threw away a comfortable lead to draw 2-2 with Celta Vigo.
The Catalan leaders, who were once deemed impenetrable in the opening months of the 2024/25 campaign, have struggled to impress in recent fixtures with the likes of teenage sensation Lamine Yamal missing through injury.
They still sit atop the La Liga standings after Saturday’s draw, but are beginning to throw Real Madrid a lifeline in the title race.
How the game unfolded
Celta Vigo were undoubtedly the stronger side in the opening moments of Saturday evening’s La Liga clash, but failed to capitalise on early chances. Barca took time to grow into the game, and were lucky to escape Celta’s immediate press unscathed.
But, it didn’t take long for the in-form Raphinha to fire the visitors ahead. In what was Barca’s first shot on target of the match, the Brazilian cut inside the hosts’ backline to find the back of the net.
A brilliant ball from Jules Kounde reached Raphinha in the perfect position, allowing the winger to gift his side an early lead.
Controversy struck just ahead of the break when a rash challenge from Gerard Martin left Iago Aspas in pain on the canvas. The Celta captain put up a strong protest when Martin, already booked earlier in the game, was not sent off.
When play resumed, Aspas walked onto the pitch shaking his head in anger, while Martin was subbed off and replaced with Hector Fort to avoid any further damage.
Just after the hour mark, Barca’s trusty saviour Robert Lewandowski flew into action to double his side’s lead. The prolific Pole netted his 15th goal of the season, making the most of wasteful defending from Celta.
When fans were preparing to celebrate their comfortable win, Barcelona’s Marc Casado decided to shake things up when he was shown a second yellow card and subsequently removed from the game. Immediately, the hosts chased down the line and found the back of the net – but it was quickly ruled offside.
But, with Barca down to ten men, a huge mistake from Kounde proved costly for the Catalan giants as Alfon Gonzales fired a ball past Inaki Pena. It took just seconds for Casado’s red card to wreak havoc for the visitors, instantly undermining their once strong lead.
Things soon went from bad to worse as Hugo Alvarez doubled Celta’s lead just ahead of the 90-minute mark.
It was clear that the disadvantage of having ten men on the pitch was just too much for Barca, who were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at full-time in a game they should’ve won.
*Player ratings provided by FotMob*
GK: Inaki Pena – 8.1/10 – Made four smart saves and kept Celta out of the game in the first half, even when their press threatened goals. Couldn’t do much when Celta did score.
RB: Jules Kounde – 6.9/10 – His early assist was quickly nullified when his wasteful defending allowed Celta to equalise.
CB: Pau Cubarsi – 6.7/10 – Cubarsi made some excellent passes and was composed on the ball. A mature performance from the 17-year-old.
CB: Inigo Martinez – 6.8/10 – Was often caught misplacing passes and found it hard to impress on the ball.
LB: Gerard Martin – 6.6/10 – Struggled to make an impact in the game and was lucky to not have been shown a red.
DM: Marc Casado – 6.2/10 – Completed some useful passes but found it difficult to help his team in defence.
DM: Pedri – 7.0/10 – Offered some chances in the final third and made a number of incisive passes.
RW: Raphinha – 8.4/10 – Scored a beautiful opening goal and continued to offer immense threat up front. Ultimately was let down by his teammates.
AM: Dani Olmo – 7.1/10 – Drifted out to the left and sometimes looked sloppy on the ball. Didn’t make the runs that were needed.
LW: Gavi – 7.2/10 – One of the more impressive attacking outlets, covered a lot of ground and worked hard in transition.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – 7.7/10 – Was amongst the goals once again and actually chipped in a stunning strike before it was ruled offside.
Substitutes
SUB: Hector Fort (46′ for Martin) – 7.3/10
SUB: Fermin Lopez (75′ Pedri) – 6.2/10
SUB: Frenkie de Jong (76′ for Gavi) – 6.1/10
SUB: Pablo Torre (89′ for Olmo) – N/A
SUB: Pau Victor (90′ for Lewandowski) – N/A
Subs not used: Guillermo Fernandez, Sergi Dominguez, Diego Kochen, Wojciech Szczesny, Alex Balde, Alvaro Cortes, Noah Darvich.
Manager
Hansi Flick – 4/10 – Needs to find a way to win without Yamal in the squad. Made some late changes that proved costly when Barca begin to throw away their lead.
Player of the match – Raphinha (Barcelona)
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