Granada stun Barcelona

In 24 visits to play Barcelona, playing at the old Les Corts ground and the Camp Nou, Granada had never managed a single point in LaLiga. On Thursday night they didn’t expect to get anything either. Barça were flying along to the top of the table and Granada’s season was done, with a decent European campaign and not much to hope or fear for in LaLiga. And on the day everyone least expected it Granada won, scoring twice in the second half to comeback from Messi’s first half goal scored after combining well with Griezmann. A goal that rewarded Barça’s superiority in the opening 45, with Busquets visionary, Ilaix covering heaps of ground and an air of relaxed superiority from leading the league.

Barcelona: leader to third in 45 minutes

Because at half-time Barça were top of the table. They kept looking for a second, possibly being a little careless at the back. The two goals from Granada were good, but they came taking advantage of gaps at the back. Koeman then stuffed the Granada area full of Barça players, with Piqué leading the charge, only ensuring they got in each others way. The coach ended up in such a grump he got himself sent off for tangling verbally with the fourth official. The leader at half-time was back in third by the end of the game. Atlético, Real Madrid and Sevilla were left feeling their chances have improved. Granada have done them a huge favour, and put themselves in touching distance of Europe.

Villarreal win, but...

After the Camp Nou we headed to La Cerámica, to find a huge banner: “Our history, our dream, our moment”. It was 15 years ago that Villarreal had a Champions League final in the palm of their hand, against none other than Arsenal. The dream was shattered with Riquelme’s missed penalty at the death. Last night’s game was meant to bury that memory, but left us with a feeling things should have finished better. Any win is good, but… It was 2-0 when Arsenal went down to 10 men with Ceballos sent off. We thought it would be 3-0 when Saka won a penalty to make it 2-1. Not much of an advantage to take to London. A shame.