Barca have a long road ahead if they wish to reach club's former glory - Osasuna keep the Catalans at bay
Reading Time: 3min | Sun. 12.12.21. | 20:26
Xavi's crew are without a victory for over two weeks now. Good news is that Blaugrana's teenagers are stars in the making
Tonight's El Derbi Madrileño expectedly takes all the focus when it comes to Spanish top tier. However, there are other teams who took onto pitches across La Liga. One of them, fallen giants Barcelona.
Camp Nou team visited Navarra, not too far away north and once again failed to collect three points, this time against sturdy Osasuna side - final score 2-2.
It wasn't a spectacle of a game. It looked like it would be after first fifteen minutes because both teams managed to score in that time frame.
First it was the guests who found the back of the net. One of many teenagers from Barca's famous La Masia academy - Nico - was the one to open the score. The 19-year-old found some space inside the box to meet a beautiful cross and fired the ball behind Sergio Herrera.
However, the home team were not taken by the conceded goal. They equalised two minutes after via David Garcia - he managed to win himself just enough space inside the box to meet the free kick and produced a header inside the bottom of the left post.
Presence of Ousmane Dembele on the pitch was obvious but it did not bring Barca much. Speedy Frenchman tried his best, wanted the ball in his feet, covered a lot of grass however his biggest contribution was a cross that somehow ended up with young Abdessamad Ezzalzouli who scored Barca's second. Young Moroccan utilized a rebound and took a first-time shot from inside the box and sent the ball towards the top left corner
Soon after Dembele had to leave the pitch due to another injury. Following their second goal, Barcelona did not continue with the pressure - on the contrary, they found themselves on the receiving end of Osasuna's press.
Hosts slowly but steadily got near Marc-Andre ter Stegen's goal and minutes before the final whistle - German goalkeeper had to pick up the ball from his own net.
The ball rebounded and arrived at the feet of Chimy Avila just outside the box. He didn't think twice and fired a brilliant shot into the bottom left corner.
Once again, Barca supporters cannot be satisfied with the performance of their beloved team. Xavi has a lot of work ahead of him if they wish to better their position - with this point, Catalan club sits eight in La Liga.
LA LIGA - ROUND 17
Friday
Mallorca - Celta 0-0
Saturday
Espanyol - Levante 4-3 (1-2)
/Darder 6, de Tomas 49, Puado 60, 76 - de Frutos 11, Son 26, Morales 57/
Alaves - Getafe 1-1 (0-1)
/Joselu 86 - Unal 20/
Valencia - Elche 2-1 (1-0)
/Guedes 23, Piccini 86 - Boye 75/
Ath.Bilbao - Sevilla 0-1 (0-1)
/Delaney 38/
Sunday
Villareal - Rayo Vallecano 2-0 (2-0)
/Mandi 32, Moreno 36/
Osasuna - Barcelona 2-2 (1-1)
/Garcia 14, Avila 86 - Nico 12, Ezzalzouli 49/
20:30: (2.45) Betis (3.30) Sociedad (3.15)
23:00: (2.20) Real Madrid (3.40) Atl.Madrid (3.60)
Monday
23:00: (2.65) Cadiz (3.05) Granada (3.05)
***odds are subject to change
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