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Relegation-threatened Almeria stunned league-leading Barcelona with a 1-0 win – the club’s first-ever victory against the Catalan giants – on Sunday evening.
El Bilal Toure’s first-half goal was enough to earn Almeria three points which helped the hosts out of the drop zone. Barcelona, conversely, missed the chance to extend their lead at La Liga’s summit to double digits after Real Madrid’s draw in Saturday’s derby.
Despite starting the day in 19th, Almeria have proven to be tough opposition at the formidably named Power Horse Stadium, collecting more points at home than Atletico Madrid. The hosts lived up to their reputation, unsettling Barcelona with an early squall of pressure before taking the lead in the 24th minute.
Toure fought off Andreas Christensen to cushion a long ball down to his strike partner Luis Suarez (not that one). Toure span behind Barcelona’s befuddled centre-back to receive a return pass, crashing the opening goal off the underside of the bar.
It was the first time Barcelona had trailed in a league game since November.
Barcelona boos Xavi Hernandez warned that Almeria’s stable ‘is a difficult ground’ before the match but spent most of the build-up trying to play down the impact of the club’s Europa League elimination against Manchester United in midweek.
Based on a timid display from the visitors, it seemed as though Xavi’s message hadn’t penetrated his own squad. Barcelona didn’t force Fernando Martinez into a single save until the 81st minute, hampered by hesitancy when faced with Almeria’s low block.
Xavi turned to his bench during the interval, ditching the four-man box-midfield to inject Raphinha’s pace on the flanks.
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Yet, the Brazilian endured the same struggles faced by his colleagues against a particularly stubborn Almeria side. Rubi, the home manager who spent a season on Barcelona’s coaching staff, had his team in a resolute rearguard which allowed precious little space between the lines for the visiting gold shirts, shuttling into a back five to match the numbers the Blaugrana threw forward.
By the end of a blunt contest, Xavi’s school of short-passing were reduced to tossing crosses into the box. Ronald Araujo, brought on to protect a painfully pedestrian backline which started the match, came closest to finding the net, glancing a couple of headers wide and causing the first whispers of uncertainty through his hulking presence as an auxiliary centre-forward in the closing exchanges.
In the end, Adrian Embarba squandered a golden chance to wrap up a historic victory in stoppage time, firing into Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s midriff as Almeria won yet another second ball from a long punt forward.
However, it proved irrelevant. Almeria’s resolve would not waver, consigning Barcelona to their second La Liga loss of the season, their first reverse since the Clasico against Real Madrid in October.
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6/10 – Could scarcely have done anything about the venemous effort that whizzed past him but smothered set-piece efforts to keep the score down elsewhere.
RB: Sergi Roberto – 3/10 – Betrayed his natural position as a midfielder by leaving far too much space between himself and his nearest centre-back for the opening goal.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 3/10 – Bullied and buffeted around by Toure as the absence of Ronald Araujo’s superior anticipation and strength was felt.
CB: Eric Garcia – 3/10 – Underwhelming on the ball and unconvincing off it.
LB: Jordi Alba – 6/10 – Regularly broke into that familiar Billy Whizz running style with his head tipped back and arms pumping as Alba provided all of Barcelona’s width down the left.
CM: Franck Kessie – 5/10 – Playing the flexible advanced midfield role vacated by the injured Pedri, Kessie struggled to exert an influence on proceedings before getting hooked at half-time.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 4/10 – So often hailed as the master of a tactical foul, Busquets was forced into a raft of mistimed tackles which were hardly deliberate.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – 5/10 – Lubricated Barcelona’s build-up by dropping alongside Busquets.
RW: Ferran Torres – 4/10 – An anonymous outing deflated a lot of the promise built from his display against Cadiz last weekend.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – 4/10 – Repeatedly darted behind Almeria’s backline but either wasn’t picked out or failed to control the balls played to him.
LW: Gavi – 5/10 – Buzzed around the top of the pitch without much consequence before he was more involved following the half-time reshuffle.
Substitutes
Raphinha (46′ for Kessie) – 4/10 – Couldn’t pick his way through Almeria’s blockade.
Ronald Araujo (67′ for Garcia) – 6/10
Marcos Alonso (67′ for Alba) – 5/10
Angel Alarcon (76′ for Busquets) – N/A
Pablo Torre (76′ for Roberto) – N/A
Manager
Xavi Hernandez – 4/10 – Could hardly be accused of watching on passively, frantically altering Barcelona’s shape on numerous occasions – though without the desired effect.
