It was first against last as Barcelona took on bottom-of-the-table Leganés. With bookies pointing to Ernesto Valverde's side as clear favourites - surely an upset was not on the cards?
As the first midweek LaLiga meeting of the season, Valverde made changes - giving Suarez and Alba their first rests of the season while Lionel Messi made his milestone 700th Barcelona appearance.
The 'Blaugrana' outfit started brightly, with Messi showcasing his unparallelled talent to draw in defenders and create space for his teammates. Through this dribbling technique, Messi carved out an opportunity for Dembele to strike - though the Frenchman's shot hit the side-netting - and, just 12 minutes into the game, the Argentine's creativity helped Barca in front, albeit the magic boots of Philippe Coutinho played the decisive part. Successfully turning three Leganés midfielders, the 31-year-old played a nicely-weighted pass to Coutinho. The Brazilian teed himself up with one touch, before sending a well-struck - and swerving - volley into the far corner. No chance for Iván Cuéllar in the 'Pepinero' goal.
This spurred the league-leaders on, as just seconds later, Messi hit the bar with one of his quintessential curling strikes from 25 yards. The 'flea' was also gifted a free shot at goal as Coutinho found him in space, but, on what was an overall-disappointing evening for Leo, the Argentine could only muster an effort straight at the goalkeeper.
Leganés did bomb forward just before the break, hoping to get themselves back into the game. Juanfran crossed for Moroccan striker El-Neysri who could only find the thankful hands of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, while Oscar came closest with a curling effort from 25 yards which forced a stretching save out of the German.
All it took was one minute in the second-half to turn the game on its head. The craziness began as Vesga got on the end of a long-ball to send a looping cross into the box. Nabil El-Zhar was on hand to jump highest and head back across ter Stegen and into the back of the net. Celebrations were ectastics around the ground, and just seconds later, the figurative roof was raised as Gerard Pique provided the opportunity of the match to Mauricio Pellegrino's side. The Catalan defender made a complete hash of clearing the ball inside his own box, touching it into the path of Oscar, who fired a first time finish past Ter Stegen whilst stretching for contact. Stress had turned into jubilation for the Butarque faithful in under 60 seconds.
This shock clearly got to Barça's heads, as Umtiti and Vertonghen both entered the book for fouls on the opposition, while Suarez, Alba and Malcom entered the fray as Valverde hoped to spur on a late comeback.
Sadly, for Barça, this did not come to fruition, and Leganés provided the first real upset of the season. Cuéllar will be thanked by his boss for an incredible double save from a Coutinho curler and a Rakitic effort from close range on the rebound to make sure of the three points, though before the end of the game both Suarez and Sergi Roberto saw half-chances.
The 'Culé' supporters will be heavily disappointed with the second-half performance, having been truly outclassed by a valiant Madrid side. Before the game, Messi was hailed for his incredible record in the Spanish capital, though this time, he was unable to add to his tally. Leganés will not forget about this result in a hurry.
26 de septiembre de 2018