Barcelona dropped two valuable points away from home as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Granada at Los Carmenes. The Catalan giants looked like they were going to record three crucial points but were pegged back in the closing stages of the game by a Granada side that refused to go down without a fight in front of their own fans.
Barcelona named a relatively strong squad considering their injury woes in recent weeks, with Dani Alves getting his second start since returning to the club last month. The home side saw a lot of the ball in the first half but were unable to find a breakthrough, with Granada thwarting everything that came their way.
Barcelona eventually broke the deadlock in the 57th minute through Luuk de Jong, who applied the finishing touches to a brilliant pass from Alves. However, Xavi’s side suffered a blow with around 12 minutes left on the clock, as Gavi was sent off for a second bookable offense.
Barcelona suffer hammer blow in closing stages of the game
Granada made their man advantage count and restored parity just before stoppage time through Antonio Puertas. The Spaniard slammed the ball into the roof of the net after Barcelona failed to clear their lines from a corner, condemning the away side to their second draw in their three La Liga games.
Speaking after the game, Xavi rued Barcelona’s inexperience but refused to blame Gavi for his dismissal.
“It’s a shame but it’s down to our own mistakes. It’s a lack of experience. The red card weakens us, but we’ve lost because of errors.”
“We’ve dropped two hugely important points. It’s down to us, not the opposition. We lost silly balls. The second half was there to be controlled. We can’t go home happy after that. We’re angry. We must be self-critical.”
“The referee is there to make these decisions, it’s not for me to get involved. Experience and know-how comes with games. We can’t ask for any more from Gavi. He is a player that gives us a lot and his dismissal weakened us, obviously.”
Barcelona are now sixth in the La Liga table and will look to return to winning ways in their next league encounter against Alaves. On that note, here are some of the best reactions to their 1-1 draw against Granada.
I have no words for this man I respect him so much 
Nevertheless, this game from Dani Alves was top tier from defending, passing, crossing, controlling the tempo under pressure. I have no words for this man I respect him so much ????????
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