Barcelona Ten Men Comeback Against Osasuna
What a night it was for Barcelona supporters and players in the Estadio El Sadar(Osasuna home stadium) and around the world. Barcelona played away from home against Osasuna on the matchday 14th of the La Liga Santander fixtures, it was a must-win match to extend Barcelona's point farther away from Real Madrid.
The first half was a disaster for Barcelona, Osasuna opened the scoreline in the 6th minute of the first half from a corner kick, Ruben Garcia swung the ball into Barcelona's box and found his teammate David Garcia who headed the ball into the goalposts, it was a poor reaction from the Barcelona goalkeeper as he watched the ball enter into his goalpost.
The Barcelona players confronted the referee for a foul committed against Marcos Alonso in the box, the VAR checked it and gave their final decision to the referee, and the referee gave the goal to Osasuna. Osasuna was a pain for Barcelona in the first 25 minutes of the first half and almost got another goal, Barcelona gained control of the game and almost got an equalizer but the Osasuna goalkeeper stood his ground and kept the ball out of his goalpost.
Barcelona got their confidence and kept pressing until the 31st minute when things went south for Barca, Lewandowski who was already on a yellow card got another yellow card and was given a red card which automatically ended his time on the field. I did not disagree with the referee's decision because Lewandoski wasn't going for the ball when he clashed against an Osasuna player, he deliberately made the foul on the defender there were a lot of protests from the Barcelona players but the referee still stood on his decision and Barcelona continue they match with ten men.
Osasuna had the upper hand and we're seeing more of the ball but they don't have Barcelona's DNA to hold possession and were seen trying a counterattack. The first half concluded and Osasuna led with a goal, Gerard Pique was seen talking to the referee and arguing about the referee's decision as they went down the tunnel but the referee did not like it and gave Pique a red card for being disrespectful.
Barcelona scored their first goal of the night in the 48th minute of the second half just three minutes after the referee blew his whistle, Jordi Alba played a low cross into Osasuna's box the Osasuna defender blocked the ball from reaching Ferran Torres but the danger was not over as Pedri quickly capitalize on the loose ball and fired the ball into the goalposts and leveled the scoreline.
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Barcelona completed their comeback in the 85th minute, De Jong played a through ball from the midfield and found Raphinha, the Brazilian jumped high and headed the ball into the goalpost, you have to see the joy of the Barcelona players on the pitch, and the bench even I couldn't contain my joy.
Osasuna came hard in the last few minutes, trying to level the scoreline but the Barca defense was firm and gave no space for error, the match ended and Barca took all three points. Barcelona is now 5 points clear of Real Madrid but if Madrid wins their match on Thursday the gap will reduce to two points.
The Barcelona players impressed me last night. They managed to play with a man down and made a comeback to win the match, that is the kind of attitude the Barcelona players should have again. I commend Xavi for the victory, subbing Raphinha in at the right time and he delivered. Frankie De Jong and Pedri also deserve praise for bossing the midfield and the young star Balde who played as an RB which is not his natural position, I can say that kid has a bright future and would probably win the Golden boy award next year.
Last night was Barcelona's last match as Laliga will go on a break because of the upcoming world cup competition which will begin next week, but by the time the world cup ends in late December some of Barcelona's injured players will have fully recovered, and fit to return to the squad.
So guys that will be all for now, thanks for stopping by.