Another Slump: FC Barcelona Versus Cadiz Result And What We Learned

On Saturday in La Liga, FC Barcelona faced Cadiz. Here’s the result, what happened and what we learned from the tie.

Cadiz CF 2 – 1 FC Barcelona

There were a number of stars returning to Ronald Koeman’s first XI

His lineup read as such: Ter Stegen; Alba, Lenglet, Mingueza, Dest; De Jong, Busquets; Coutinho, Griezmann, Messi; Braithwaite.

And while this meant there was no Ousmane Dembele or Pedri, a number of stars that sat out or didn’t even for the midweek win over Ferencvaros in the Champions League made their way back into the Dutchman’s primary plans.

The worst possible start

Barca hadn’t begun that badly, and had managed to get their passing game off the ground. But then tragedy struck in the eighth minute when Oscar Mingueza almost headed into his own net past Ter Stegen. The German managed to produce a fine save, but then Alvaro Giminez was there to convert the rebound. 1-0 to the hosts.

Coutinho skied Barca’s best chance

Approaching a quarter of an hour, Lionel Messi played a lovely pass for Sergino Dest to pass across the face of the goal. Antoine Griezmann missed the sliding tap in, but so did Philippe Coutinho the empty net left behind, albeit from a tight angle.

Braithwaite forced a save

Sort of clear on goal, the Dane made Jeremias Ledesma keep it out with his feet and Catalans seemed to be finding their range.

Messi came close with a free kick

On target on 25 minutes, the skipper made Ledesma come off his line and punch it on to Clement Lenglet’s head. Had he not, an equalizer would have certainly been delivered.

And also his first ‘Olympic Goal’

One directly from a corner that is. Ledesma tipped it out, and, after that, off went Barca down the tunnel still 1-0 down. Dembele could be seen warming up even before the half time whistle, the feeling that he could be seen swiftly at the start of the second ‘45 echoed by Koeman’s scowl.

A double it sub it was from the manager

Supplanting Philippe Coutinho and Mingueza, Dembele and Pedri would attempt to inject some width and creativity from the offset of the restart.

Relentless attacks followed

The replacements were at the forefront of sustained pressure, as Cadiz put 10 men behind the ball in the box.

Then finally it came

Not the prettiest of goals, but Jordi Alba will take it. Nearing the hour mark, his cross was deflected past Ledesma to tie the proceedings at 1-1.

Before the Blaugrana undid their hard work

Who knows what Alba was thinking with his heavy throw in, but it beat Lenglet and left one on a plate for Alvaro Negredo to make it 2-1 when Ter Stegen tried to clear the ball straight into the striker. Back down the hill Barca went.

A penalty shout was ignored

When Lenglet, 14 minutes from time, had his shirt tugged. Just before that, Messi lobbed Ledesma and hit the bar. It felt like the visitors could still snatch a point or all three, but they were slipping away from them.

Another double sub from Koeman followed

Miralem Pjanic and Francisco Trincao came on for Dest and Busquets, with 13 minutes plus stoppage time to make an impact.

They didn’t, and FC Barcelona succumbed to another defeat

This their fourth loss in the 2020/2021 La Liga season, thoughts of the title should be promptly erased from Cules’ minds, if they weren’t all ready. Diego Simeone’s men have other rivals up at the summit of course, but from a Barca perspective, can anyone really see Atletico Madrid dropping 12 points and leaving the 7th placed strugglers back in the race?

Now, qualifying for the Champions League and perhaps picking up the Super Cup and Copa del Rey should be their primary focus.

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