FC Barcelona can no longer do it in La Liga! After taking only one point during its last two days, the Catalan club did not raise its head when receiving Las Palmas, for the 15th day of the Spanish championship. Quite the contrary! Hansi Flick's men lost to a team from the bottom of the table (1-2). Raphinha is the only scorer for Barça. A big disappointment for the Blaugrana, which gives Real Madrid the opportunity to move a little closer in the standings. Discover the ratings of Catalan players in this article.
Inaki Pena was still present in the FC Barcelona goal. Saved by Pau Cubarsi at the start of the match, he recovered a few moments later by making a good save, even if an offside position was finally signaled. Subsequently, the last bastion of the Blaugrana made a very calm save in the 31st minute of play. However, he seemed to be able to do better on the opening score of Las Palmas (49th). He remains motionless on the visitors' second goal (67th).
At the moment, Jules Koundé is not in great shape! In this match, the French side was not in difficulty defensively. However, we expected him in the offensive phases. And it was way too messy. The proof was half an hour into the game, when he attempted an acceleration which ended in touch.
After some nice work from Raphinha, he finds himself in a striking position, but his attempt ends well above (42nd). To make matters worse, he enraged his audience in added time of the first period, by favoring a pass backwards rather than forwards. It also leaves its place to Hector Fort (NN) from the 56th minute of play. The new arrival is one of the culprits on Las Palmas' second goal.
In the first half, he was impressive in the central hinge. Pau Cubarsi clearly pulled out all the stops in the first act against Las Palmas. He certainly didn't think he would have so much work against a team at the bottom of the table. But he knew how to stay very focused.
A bit by chance, he saved his team in the 4th minute of play, almost on his line. He clears a hot ball in front of his area, five minutes later. The Spanish defender then showed himself to be very solid in all his duels, such as the 14th and 15th minutes of play.
However, he is the author of a big reading error on the second goal of Las Palmas (67th), which leaves Fabio Silva to appear alone in front of his goalkeeper. A very costly error of judgment… Pau Victor (NN) takes his place for the last moments.
Inigo Martinez was a little less visible than his friend in the central hinge. He was fooled in the 4th minute of play. The Barça central defender was still the author of a very big comeback in the 34th minute of play.
He does not hesitate to take his chance on the edge of the opponent's area, like in the 48th minute, even if his shot goes over. On the opening score of Las Palmas, he covered poorly, but he was a little abandoned by Gerard Martin, who did not follow Sandro Ramirez.
This is very bad news for FC Barcelona. Alejandro Balde had to give up his place due to injury in the 26th minute of play. The left-back struggled to regain his composure after a big clash with Sandro Ramirez. He also gave an excellent performance.
Author of a nice save in front of Inaki Pena at the start of the match (11th), he did not fail to show himself in the other half of the field. First, he recovered a ball in the 16th minute of play, before hitting his lane four minutes later. It is Gerard Martin (3/10) who took his place. He is too far from Sandro Ramirez on the opening score for Las Palmas.
It was a two-faced Gavi that we saw this Saturday afternoon. As usual, he didn't count his efforts. He made a very significant comeback after half an hour of play. However, he had more difficulty in his team's possession phases. He loses a ball which leads to an opposing strike, in the 36th minute of play.
He could have made the difference with a very good pass in added time of the first period, but Raphinha found the bar. On Las Palmas' opening score, his placement left a little to be desired on the opposing counterattack. Frenkie de Jong (NN) replaces him in the 57th minute of play.
Pedri is the conductor of this FC Barcelona. In the creation of actions, the Catalan environment is essential. He can break lines by bringing the ball up, like in the quarter hour of play. But he can also do it thanks to his passing quality.
The 22-year-old talent also assisted on Raphinha's goal (62nd). He could even have scored at the end of the match, but his shot was blocked by an opposing player. He was one of the rare Blaugrana players to be there during this poster.
Starting the match on the right wing, Raphinha was not brilliant in the first act. In this position, the Brazilian finds it very difficult to stand out. He still came close to scoring in the 42nd minute of play, but his shot found the crossbar.
It was in a central position that Raphinha was most dangerous. This had already been the case in the first period, with a great breakthrough, where he was able to find Jules Koundé. After the break and the entry of Lamine Yamal, he found a position that suited him better. It was he who equalized with a superb strike from the edge of the area, in the 57th minute of play.
Fermin Lopez clearly failed to stand out in this meeting. He had the opportunity to be decisive. He found himself face-to-face in the 7th minute of play, but failed to deceive the opposing goalkeeper. Afterwards, he didn't have much to eat. Ferran Torres (NN) replaced him in the 57th minute of play.
Pablo Torre was chosen to start in this meeting. He had some high class actions. From the 7th minute of play, he sent a caviar to Fermin Lopez which could have turned into an assist. Half an hour into the game, he made a nice dribble, in a complicated situation, to get a corner. It is also he who launches Gerard Martin alone in the left lane, in the 34th minute of play.
Barça's young talent, however, will give up his place at half-time, to Lamine Yamal (6/10). Absent in the last three matches, he was able to contribute after coming into play. As always, he never stopped trying to put the opposing defense in difficulty.
It was a very complicated match for Robert Lewandowski at the forefront of the Blaugrana attack. He certainly expected to have many more chances against a team at the bottom of the La Liga table. However, the Pole was almost never found in a striking position. Apart from a discount for Pedri, just before the break, he had nothing to eat.
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