Granada 2-0 FC Barcelona: Beaten in Andalusia

After suffering 2-0 defeat at Granada, Barça are still looking for their first away win in La Liga 2019/20. A goal right at the very start of the game and a penalty in the second half undid the blaugrana at the Nuevo los Cármenes, and means the newly promoted home side will be spending Saturday sitting on top of the league table.

Early setback

The game could not have got off to a worse start. In the very first attack of the game, a defensive error led to Antonio Puertas sending the ball goalward and Ramon Azeez nodding in at the far post.

Granada have been in electric form since re-joining the country’s elite, and buoyed by the unexpected lead, had no qualms about taking the game to their illustrious rivals.

Barça regrouped and the chances started to come, with Frenkie de Jong especially active, and Luis Suárez coming closest on a couple of occasions before the break.

Ernesto Valverde sent on both Leo Messi and Ansu Fati for the restart, and their mere presence was enough to nudge Granada down a gear or two.

Penalty pain

There was heart-stopping moment when it looked like Ter Stegen had dropped the ball into his own net, and although the German keeper dealt with that situation brilliantly, there was nothing he could do when facing Alvaro Vadillo’s 66^th minute penalty.

Arturo Vidal’s handball originally went unspotted, but Granada protested and the incident was referred to VAR where it was confirmed that the Chilean had indeed make hand-to-ball contact in his area.

Now with two goals to make up, Barça could do nothing but press forward in search of goals. Try they did, but to no avail. They were struggling to create any real danger, and Granada keeper Rui Silva solid in his response to the number of half-chances that were sent his way.

It was a disappointing result at a ground where Barça have typically performed brilliantly leaves the team with seven points from the first five Liga fixtures, and looking forward to the chance to make amends when they entertain Villarreal on Tuesday at 9.00pm CET (TICKETS HERE).