New year, same drama at Barcelona

Posted Sunday, January 09, 2022 by Marca.com

A look at their disappointing draw at Granada

New year, same drama at Barcelona
An image from Barcelona's 1-1 draw at Granada.

Barcelona were left having to settle for a point at Granada on Saturday evening, despite leading until then 89th minute. But the Catalans aren't able to enjoy a quiet day's work nowadays, and they conceded late on to throw away two points.

Now, the Blaugrana's wait to break into the Champions League places continues, and they will likely lose ground on their rivals for a top-four finish this season.

Barcelona can't escape drama. They're not able to get over the line, and it's no longer because of mere offensive instability of lacking a punch in front of goal. Their defensive mistakes are weighing heavily, as is their tendency to take their foot off the gas. Granada's leveller is going to be shown countless times by Xavi Hernandez in the coming days.

At 38 years and 247 years old, Dani Alves became the oldest Barcelona player in LaLiga Santander. He's obviously no longer the player he once was, but he can still make a difference. On his debut, he provided an assist just as he had five-and-a-half years earlier in the final game of his first spell at the club. It should have been a match-winning assist.

Few players cause more division than Ousmane Dembele. He wants a better renewal offer than is on the table, but he doesn't perform consistently enough to warrant it. He was poor again on Saturday.

Barcelona's injury problems continued with Eric Garcia breaking down during the game to be replaced by Clement Lenglet, leaving Xavi in a tricky situation ahead of the Supercopa de Espana.

Xavi appears to have realised that he cannot do without Luuk de Jong, at least not while he's without the rest of his forwards. The Dutchman isn't a world beater, but he's doing well in his role at the moment.

Gavi is on his way to becoming a great Barcelona player, and he is showing that he has a nasty side too, though he might need to tone that down. Returning from suspension, he was booked for his sixth yellow card of the season and the seventh soon followed, seeing him sent off, leaving Barcelona in a troubled position from which they conceded. Gavi has to learn.

It's a miracle that Gerard Pique stayed on the pitch for 90 minutes. He should have been shown a red card.