Shock of extremes this Saturday evening in Spain. At 9 p.m., FC Barcelona were on the lawn of RCDE Stadium to face their historic neighbor, Espanyol Barcelona, in a match counting for the 19th day of La Liga. Barça had to win to take first place, snatched earlier today by Real Madrid, who won easily on the field of Getafe (3-0). For this match, Ernesto Valverde set up a 4-3-3 with the usual attacking trio Messi-Suarez-Griezmann. Marc-Andre ter Stegen injured, Neto takes his place for the first time in the season. On the Espanyol side, Abelardo Fernandez, who was appointed coach on December 27, was playing his first game. He was lining up for the occasion a 4-4-2 with Melendo and Calleri at the forefront. Lined up in midfield, Sergi Darder and Marc Roca played their 100th game under the colors of Espanyol.
The first quarter of an hour is mastered by FC Barcelona. A domination nonetheless sterile since the men of Valverde could not really worry their opponent. It was finally Espanyol Barcelona who found the fault first. On a free kick by Marc Roca on the right side, David Lopez, on the verge of offside, places his head and deceives Neto. 1-0 for the Pericos and first goal of the season for the defender. At the end of the first period, neither Suarez nor Messi managed to equalize. The Uruguayan hit the post in the 41st minute. Two minutes later, the Ballon d’Or failed to deceive Diego Lopez on a free kick. His shot was too centered and easily caught by the Spanish doorman.
A draw despite a great Suarez
Led at half-time against a team experiencing the worst start to the season in its history (10 points in 18 games), Barça had to react. Valverde brings Arturo Vidal into place of Ivan Rakitic at the start of the second act. And the expected reaction came. In the 51st minute, Jordi Alba on his left side addressed a center. Luis Suarez appeared at the far post and took the ball off the forefoot. Too short, Diego Lopez touched the ball but could not prevent it from entering his cages. The Uruguayan scored his 11th goal of the La Liga season there. Barça accelerated the pace and took the advantage seven minutes later. Suarez, again, played on the opposing defense. He was centering with the outside of the foot for Arturo Vidal, who led Diego Lopez’s header and scored his 6th goal of the season.
If the Blaugranas got their foot on the ball, they had to finish the game at 10 after the expulsion of Frenkie De Jong in the 75th minute. The reigning Spanish champion relied on his goalkeeper a few moments later, who performed a major parade on Wu Lei’s head. In the 88th minute, the striker, who entered the match, had the last word on Neto. He crossed his shot at the entrance to the penalty area and defeated the Barça goalkeeper. He became the first Chinese man in history to score against FC Barcelona. Final score: 2-2. Espanyol took a precious point in the race for maintenance. Bad operation for Lionel Messi and his teammates who lost them two points in the title race but retained first place in the championship at goal difference.
Find the film of the meeting on our commented live.
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