Less than a week after a demoralizing loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona faltered at Camp Nou again, being held by winless Granada 1-1 in the Spanish league on Monday.
Barcelona needed a 90th-minute equalizer by defender Ronald Ara├║jo, sparking jeers by many in the crowd of nearly 27,000.
The setback followed the 3-0 rout by Bayern in the team’s first defeat since losing Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain, and added pressure on coach Ronald Koeman and club president Joan Laporta.
Granada came to Barcelona winless in four matches and coming off two consecutive losses, including at home against Real Betis in the Andalucia derby last week. It defeated Barcelona at Camp Nou the last time they met in April.
тАЬItтАЩs a shame,тАЭ Ara├║jo said. тАЬIf we had been able to score earlier we could have gotten the victory. After the early goal they sat back on defense and that made it difficult for us.тАЭ
The draw left Barcelona in seventh place, five points from leader Real Madrid with a game in hand.
Coached by former Spain manager Robert Moreno, Granada opened the scoring two minutes into the match with a header by Domingos Duarte off a set-piece.
Barcelona squandered two great chances to equalize before halftime тАФ Sergi Roberto hit the crossbar from inside the area and Ara├║jo’s header was brilliantly saved by Granada goalkeeper Lu├нs Maximiano.
Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong also failed to capitalize on scoring chances in the second half, but Ara├║jo finally broke through with a close-range header in the 90th.
тАЬWe know that Bar├зa isn’t going through a good moment and it was important to try to take advantage of that early on,тАЭ Duarte said. тАЬEarning a point at Camp Nou is always good but we came close to getting the three points. In the end they had many chances too. It was a fair result.тАЭ
Koeman couldnтАЩt count on several players because of injuries, including Jordi Alba and Pedri Gonz├бlez.
He added a few youngsters in the second half, including Riqui Puig and 17-year-old Gavi, who set up Ara├║jo’s equalizer. Philippe Coutinho was one of the players replaced.
Veteran defender Gerard Piqu├й played as a striker after coming into the game in the final minutes.
This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
