Barcelona conceded two embarrassing goals to suffer a shock 2-1
away loss to Cadiz in the Spanish top flight.
The Catalans were behind in the eighth minute when central defender
Oscar Mingiza headed the ball in the direction of his team’s goal, and
although goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen touched it with his hand,
Alvaro, the Cadiz striker, succeeded in putting it in the net.
Barcelona equalized with a goal that also came with the help of luck in
the 57th minute when Cadiz defender Pedro Alcala converted Jordi Alba’s
cross into the net, surprising his goalkeeper, Jeremy’s Ledesma.
But Cadiz regained their lead after another six minutes when Alvaro Negredo
took advantage of a mistake from Barcelona defenders Alba and Climo Linglele to take a side throw.
Alba threw the ball towards Lingley, but the French defender could not control it,
and Negredo, who appeared as a substitute less than a minute ago, began to put
pressure on Ter Stegen and thwarted his attempt to clear the ball and then put it
in the empty goal despite Frenkie de Jong’s attempt to save it.
A fourth defeat of the season left Barcelona seventh with 14 points from ten games,
12 points behind leaders Atlético Madrid and Ronald Koeman’s side failed to win
any of their last four away matches.
The Dutch coach criticized the behavior of his players. “It is a pity that we lose
because of such a goal, it is a mistake that cannot be expected from this team.
This mistake shows that we are not playing with focus,” he said. “The team’s
behavior was not good tonight. I am very disappointed.”
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets said that individual mistakes have cost
the Catalans many points this season.
“The team’s behavior or commitment cannot be questioned, but when we start,
like we did today, the match becomes very difficult,” he added.
Cadiz, who achieved his first home victory since his return to the first division,
overtook his Catalan opponent to fifth place with 18 points. The Andalusian team
also beat Real Madrid 1-0 away from home earlier this season.
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi presented a disappointing match, despite his relief
during the match against Hungary’s Franco-Faros in the Champions League last week,
and was repeatedly frustrated by his fellow Argentine, Ledesma, the Cadiz goalkeeper.
Ledesma also sent off a powerful shot from Miralem Pjanic in the final minutes,
in addition to a long-range shot by Antoine Griezmann.
Cádiz was supposed to put the match out of Barcelona’s reach when Bobby Adecani
went solo on goal but failed to score at Ter Stegen.
But the Andalusian side’s defense withstood another major victory in their
first season in the first division in 14 years.
