Barça saves a point at Riazor, but breaks a historical statistic

BarcelonaWithout Graham Hansen or Irene Paredes due to rest, and without Vicky López, Kika Nazareth, Laia Aleixandri, or Kerolin Nicoli due to injury, Barça was unable to win on the pitch of Deportivo de la Coruña (1-1). Van Asten managed to equalize, with added time already over, canceling out Vega's goal, to save a point at Riazor. The 'blaugranes' will continue as leaders with four points more than Madrid. Furthermore, for the first time in more than seven years, Barça has gone two consecutive matches without a win: 1-1 against Arsenal and 1-1 against Dépor. The last time this happened was in February 2019, when the team, then managed by Lluís Cortés, lost against Sporting Huelva (2-3) and against Atlético de Madrid (2-0).

Pere Romeu had to perform miracles to manage the minutes—and at the same time be able to field a recognizable team—after the physical wear and tear of last Thursday in the one-all draw against Arsenal. “We lacked gas,” admitted Patri Guijarro at the end of the match. The Catalan coach placed four reserve team players in the starting eleven: Mayssa Baha, Rosalía Domínguez, Laia Cabetas, and Noa Jiménez. Cabetas and Jiménez, moreover, made their debut in the Liga F after having debuted in the Champions League.

After an even first half, with Barça unable to open the scoring, the blaugranes saw that the opposing team was more efficient again. Vega took advantage of a counterattack to cause an upset at Riazor. Pere Romeu called for a penalty for a shirt pull on Sydney Schertenleib at the start of the play, before the counterattack, but the referee did not consider the action punishable. With the urgency to turn the score around, the coach put everything on the line with the introduction of Patri Guijarro, Ewa Pajor, and Claudia Pina, but it was the blaugrana Rosalía who saved the 2-0 on the goal line, although the play was disallowed for offside.

Minutes later, luck turned against the Catalans again. The referee disallowed two goals by Pina for offside and Pajor hit the post. Just as it happened on Thursday, the blaugranes lacked the necessary precision and Dépor's defense completed the task by hindering the Catalans' shooting actions. When it seemed that the second defeat in the League would arrive, Van Asten headed in a cross from Patri Guijarro to save a point in extremis. Barça has paid a high price for having a short squad at this stage of the season. The numerous absences and the necessary rest to avoid further injuries have caused this poor run of results.