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Barcelona failed to take advantage of a man up front for the final 30 minutes and drew 1-1 with Alavés on Saturday night at Vitoria’s Mendizorrotza Stadium.
A terrible mistake by goalkeeper Neto gave Alavés their goal in the first half, but an expulsion from Alavés just after the hour changed the momentum back to the Catalan club.
Antoine Griezmann broke his scoring streak with the draw, but that was all Barcelona could score the rest of the way against Alavés goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco, who made a series of brilliant saves to deny Barcelona all three points.
Ansu Fati was back in Ronald Koeman’s starting eleven, while Pedri was relegated to the bench. Also returning to the starting lineup was the French duo of Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele.
Barcelona looked to take an early lead and birthday boy Fati looked ready to do just that after being played by Messi, but the youngster missed off the far post. This was followed by a Messi free kick that was blocked at the goal line by Alavés defender Víctor Laguardia.
Barcelona became their worst enemy within half an hour when a confusion between Gerard Piqué and Neto caused the goalkeeper to play the ball poorly and Luis Rioja immediately stripped it, who hit the open net for a 1-0 lead with the Alaves. .
Frustration was setting in and Messi could easily have seen red when he kicked a ball towards referee Alejandro Hernández Hernández, but the Argentine escaped with only one yellow.
Koeman made radical changes during the break, with Clement Lenglet, Dembélé and Sergio Busquets replaced by Pedri, Trincao and Miralem Pjanic.
Barcelona pushed Alavés back in search of a draw, and the Basque team’s task of holding onto their one-goal lead became much more difficult just after the hour, when Jota received his second yellow card for a high shot over Piqué.
In fact, Alavés’ lead would last only a few seconds when a 50-50 ball between Fati and Pina strayed into the path of Griezmann, who edged out Pacheco and tied things at 1-1.
Barcelona smelled blood and had to make a great save to Pacheco to prevent Messi from making two for the visitors. Koeman then returned to his bench, opting for Sergino Dest instead of Jordi Alba.
Griezmann thought he had scored the advantage goal after receiving a ball from Trincao, but the lineman’s flag ruled otherwise.
Koeman’s last roll of the dice from the bench was Martin Braithwaite, who replaced Fati, as Barcelona repeatedly knocked on the door for the winning goal.
Dest, Piqué, Trincao and Messi had their sights to land that coveted second marker, but the Alavés defense stood firm to secure the point and send Barcelona home shaking their heads.
Match sheet:
Alaves: Pacheco; Ximo (Aguirregabiria, min. 41), Lejeune, Laguardia; Edgar (Tavares, min. 58), Battaglia, Pina (Marin, min. 72), Peleteiro, Duarte; Rioja (Manu García, min. 72), Deyverson (Joselu, min. 57).
Barcelona: Net; Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet (Pedri, min. 46), Jordi Alba (Dest., Min. 69); Sergio Busquets (Pjanic, min. 46), De Jong; Dembélé (Trincao, min. 46), Griezmann, Ansu Fati (Braithwaite, min. 78), Messi.
Goals: 1-0, min. 31: Luis Roja; 1-1, min. 63: Griezmann
Referee: Hernandez Hernandez (Las Palmas). Cards: Jota (Min.15) for Alavés, Deyverson (Min.22) for Alavés, Messi (Min.39) for Barcelona, Lenglet (Min.44) for Barcelona, Busquets (Min.44) for Barcelona , Jota (Min. 62) for Alavés, Rubén Duarte (Min. 87) for Alavés
Red cards: Jota (Min.62) for Alavés
Stadium: Mendizorrotza
Attendance: 0
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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