El Bilal Toure’s lone goal mid-way through the first half at Estadio Mediterraneo, handed Blaugrana their second league-defeat of the season.
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Barcelona suffered their second consecutive defeat in all competitions on Sunday as they suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Almeria in the La Liga. Xavi’s side went into the match on the back of a Europa League exit after losing 2-1 to Manchester United in the second leg of the last-32 tie on Thursday. Meanwhile, El Bilal Toure’s lone goal mid-way through the first half at Estadio Mediterraneo, handed Blaugrana their second league-defeat of the season. Barca also missed a chance to open up a 10-point lead over the reigning champions Real Madrid in the second spot.
FT #AlmeríaBarça 1-0
𝗛𝘂𝗴𝗲 win for @UDAlmeria_Eng 😍#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/bPefPOSYxL
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN) February 26, 2023
Almeria, who were languishing in the drop zone before the start of the game, surprisingly took the lead inside the opening 24 minutes, thanks to Toure’s stunning strike from inside the box, which rattled the crossbar and went into the back of the net. Two minutes later, Leo Baptistao tested Ter Stegen from a set-piece, before Rodrigo Ely’s free-header from the subsequent corner-kick went over the bar. Twenty minutes from time, Luis Suarez’s clean strike from inside the box was blocked by Marcos Alnoso.
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It took 81 minutes for Barcelona to have a meaningful effort on goal. Substitute Angel Alarcon’s low strike was well saved by the home goalkeeper Fernando Martinez. Blaugrana went into the match as clear favourites but appeared clueless for most part of the match. Robert Lewandowski was a lone figure up front as there wasn’t enough supply coming from the midfield. Although the wingers tried to find the Polish international from the flanks, Almeria defence was solid enough to nullify the 34-year-old, who is sitting at the top of La Liga top scorers list, with 15 scalps to his name.
Barca had more than 70% of ball possession but recorded just one shot on target in the entire match. It was without doubt one of the worst performances by Barca in a long time. Almeria , who returned to the Spanish top flight this term by winning the Segunda Division 2021-22, collected all three points to move to the 15th spot, two points clear of the relegation zone. Meanwhile, Xavi exhausted all his five changes after the break, but nothing worked. The Catalan outfit’s next outing will be against Real Madrid in the semi-finals of Copa del Rey on March 2.
#LaLiga
J-23Barcelona no pudo sacar 10 puntos de ventaja sobre Real Madrid.
Primera vez que el Barça pierde ante Almería. pic.twitter.com/a1fSNbQAjb
— Santiago Puente (@santipuente) February 27, 2023
Almeria shocks Barcelona.
Almeria 1-0 Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/kOCej4GKus
— Football & Witball ⚽🎩 (@FootballWitball) February 27, 2023
🚨 Xavi: “Tonight we played the worst game of the season.” pic.twitter.com/xP59lgnCpG
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) February 26, 2023
