La Liga: Bottom placed Leganes stun defending champions Barcelona

Bottom-placed Leganes scored twice in two minutes as Barcelona slipped to their first defeat of the season going down 1-2 in their sixth La Liga match on Wednesday.

Coming into the match against the defending league champions, Leganes had just one point from five matches and Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde had lost just once ever since taking charge in May 2017.

But a Gerard Pique mistake – his fluffed clearance allowed Oscar Rodriguez to score the winning goal – completed a remarkable comeback at Estadio Municipal de Butarque for the league’s worst placed team.

Barcelona had looked comfortable at 1-0 after Lionel Messi went into one of his usual yet superhuman run dancing from one end to another before passing the ball to Philippe Coutinho, whose fast touch nearly failed him but he recovered to score with a sumptuous volley.

Messi hit the woodwork soon and it looked to be a long night for the hosts, while the Catalan club found some relief after the draw against Girona at home. But an inspired comeback that eventually led to their defeat meant inside three days the Catalan club has earned just one point from what could have been an assured six.

Also Read: Manager Jose Mourinho strips Paul Pogba of vice-captaincy at Manchester United

Youssef En-Nesyri came close inside the first half but headed straight at goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. But Leganes could not be denied, when in the 52^nd minute they broke Barcelona open with a quick counter from which El Zhar headed to equalise. Just 68 seconds later the home side had their second that eventually turned to be a winning goal.

It was a long ball – after Barcelona had conceded possession soon after restart – direct into the box that feathered off Pique’s head before Oscar nodded it home.

The visitors looked shell-shocked, never ever coming close again until the 80^th minute when Leganes goalkeeper Pichu Cuella palmed away Coutinho’s curler before tipping over Ivan Rakitic’s follow-up to ensure the victory.

“It’s not a result that can be explained. We found it hard to create chances, and they shut up shop at the back. It’s not an easy moment,” Barca coach Valverde was quoted as saying by BBC.

Also Read: Jose Mourinho under radar after losing out to Championship side Derby County

“We weren’t expecting this. But we have another important game on Saturday [against Athletic Bilbao] in front of our fans. We have to pick ourselves up and we’ll need everyone’s help to do that.”

Leganes climbed up to 17^th with their first victory in the season, while Barcelona remained on top after Real Madrid also faced defeat. Real lost 0-3 to Sevilla, making it the first time since 2015 that both the superpowers have lost a domestic league match on the same day.

Image Source: The Quint