A trip to Almeria offered a perfect chance for Barcelona to deal a major blow to Real Madrid바카라™s Spanish title defense and move past its still-stinging elimination from the Europa League.
But with Xavi Hernández feeling compelled to rest some of his best players, Barcelona put in what its coach admitted was the 바카라śworst game of the season.바카라ť
The 1-0 shock loss at Almeria let second-place Real Madrid, which drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid the day before, stay seven points behind Barcelona.
Barcelona was unable to mount a credible fightback despite having more than an hour to respond to striker El Bilal TourĂ©바카라™s goal and flopped to the first-ever loss to Almeria in their 16th meeting.
바카라śIt was a difficult game and a tough day for us,바카라ť Xavi said. 바카라śWe are still leaders at seven points ahead, but we did not play like we should have. It was our worst game of the season. I think we had some fatigue, that is why we rotated our starting lineup, but we missed a golden chance to go up 10 points.바카라ť
Barcelona hadn바카라™t lost in 13 league games, with only one draw and 12 wins going back to its last defeat at Madrid in October.
Barcelona will now have to regroup for Thursday바카라™s visit to Madrid in the semifinals of the Copa del Rey.
The unexpected defeat on Sunday came after a 2-1 loss at Manchester United eliminated Barcelona from the Europa League 바카라” after it had failed to advance from the Champions League group phase for a second consecutive year. The exit from Europe바카라™s second-tier competition left Barcelona with the Spanish league and domestic cup titles to play for as it tries to make good on its investment in new players last summer using cash it generated from the sale of future television revenues and other assets.
Almeria moved out of the relegation zone after earning one of its biggest wins.
Almeria coach Rubi Ferrer credited his players for 바카라śworking, working, working바카라ť and restricting Barcelona바카라™s movement.
바카라śWe did an extraordinary job,바카라ť Rubi said about his team that withstood a final bombardment of crosses by Barcelona. Goalkeeper Fernando MartĂnez had surprisingly little work to do.
바카라śOur game plan worked to perfection,바카라ť Rubi said. ¨We are going to remember this game for a long time.바카라ť
Nestled between trips to United and Madrid, the game at a modest Almeria side that was promoted this season seemed like a good time for Xavi to rest some of his first-choice players.
Defenders Jules KoundĂ©, Ronald AraĂşjo and Alejando Balde and forward Raphinha began the game on the bench. Sergi Roberto, Éric GarcĂa, Jordi Alba and Ferrán Torres started in their place.
Barcelona still had Robert Lewandowski, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong on the field from kickoff along with Gavi, back from a one-game suspension that meant he missed the game at Old Trafford.
The result, however, was a third-rate performance.
After a complacent start by Barcelona, Almeria struck in the 24th minute on a quick attack after an inspired Rodrigo Ely tackled Gavi in the hosts바카라™ area and booted a long ball forward for TourĂ© to control. The 21-year-old Mali forward exchanged quick passes with Luis Suárez and blasted a powerful strike over Marc-Andre ter Stegen and in off the crossbar.
Xavi sent Raphinha on at halftime, with AraĂşjo and Marcos Alonso soon following, but Almeria held firm.
Gavi바카라™s shot blocked by Ely in the 59th and a shot by substitute Pablo Torre in the 82nd easily grabbed by Fernando ended up being the most that a disappointing Barcelona could muster.
The stumble at Almeria came amid Barcelona facing intense scrutiny after it became known that Spanish state prosecutors are probing the payment of millions of euros to a company that belonged to the vice president of Spain바카라™s refereeing committee. Barcelona says the money was for technical reports on referees and youth players, and denies any attempt to influence referees.
OSASUNA WINS
Osasuna won 3-2 at Sevilla to carry its winning momentum into the Copa del Rey semifinals against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.
Abde Ezzalzouli scored the winner in the 85th to ensure Osasuna rose above Bilbao into seventh place.
OWN-GOALS
Girona was helped by two own-goals to win 3-2 at Bilbao after both Ă“scar de Marcos and Mikel Vesga sent the ball into their net.
Midfielder Aleix GarcĂa rifled in a fourth-minute opener for Girona and two of his crosses ended up being put in the hosts바카라™ goal by De Marcos and Vesga.
VEIGA DOUBLE
Celta Vigo바카라™s 20-year-old Gabri Veiga scored twice in a 3-0 win at home over Valladolid.
With eight goals from his position in midfield, Veiga has emerged as one of the Spanish league바카라™s revelations.
