Granada vs Barcelona summary: score, goals, highlights, LaLiga 21-22
Granada 1-1 Barcelona: as it happened
Barcelona will be disappointed with how the game ended, having conceded in the 89th minute through an Antonio Puertas strike. Gavi was sent off with 10 minutes to go and Granada pushed on to get the equaliser.
Barça opened the scoring thanks to Luuk de Jong's fine header after a wonderful cross by Dani Alves from the right wing.
FT: Granada 1-1 Barcelona
What a nightmare that would have been for Ter Stegen!
Montoro!
Ter Stegen kicks it straight to Montoro, who then tries to chip the keeper, but he manages to scramble back and keep the ball out!
Barcelona have kept the ball for most of the added-on time but can they find a winner?
Shots:
Granada - 13
Barcelona - 11
There will be six minutes added on!
The corner comes in from Milla. The ball falls to Puertas 12 yards from goal and he buries it with his left foot into the top corner to give Ter Stegen no chance. 1-1
Montoro curls in a free from the left. Everyone is up. Duarte can't keep his header on target.
Ter Stegen saves!
Granada take the corner short and play it to Milla. The diminutive midfielder opens up his body before curling a right-footed effort low to Ter Stegen's left side. The German shot-stopper does well to save it. 0-1
Barcelona change:
OFF Dembélé
ON Sanz
Gavi goes in under Collado and fails to connect with the ball, picking up his second yellow and Barca are down to 10 men.
RED CARD | Gavi has been sent off!
Alba is back on his feet. Xavi can breathe once again.
Jordi Alba looks to be in some pain on the ground. With Eric García already gone off, Xavi can't afford to lose another defender.
Puertas shoots!
Dani Alves throws himself at the ball as Puertas goes close to equalising with a shot in the box. The Brazilian does enough to block the effort from 10 yards.
Granada manager Robert Moreno is chatting to his assistant on the touchline. Can they conjure up something in the last 15 minutes?
Pass completion rates:
Granada - 67.9%
Barcelona - 86%
Collado fouls Gavi, and it's a free to the away side, who lead 1-0 with just under 20 minutes remaining in Andalusia.
Granada are about to bring in their new loan signing - Álex Collado - who only joined the club from Barcelona yesterday.
Puertas crosses - Molina heads wide!
Molina pulls away from Lenglet to create space, Puertas picks him out superbly, but the veteran striker can't keep his header on target.
Dani Alves sends in an excellent cross from the right and De Jong gets up highest to power his header beyond Maximiano in the Granada goal. It's his third goal for Barcelona, his second in a week.
Lenglet is only on the pitch and he takes out Luis Suárez to pick up an early yellow card.
Barcelona change:
OFF Eric García
ON Clément Lenglet
Eric García is down injured. Lenglet is warming up. This is not what Xavi needed. Araújo has just been ruled out after fracturing his right hand.
Barcelona are lacking that cutting edge. They have no problem keeping the ball, Xavi style, but they have failed to really cut through the home defence. Goals are also an issue, with Depay just coming back from injury, Braithwaite out injured, and Aguero recently forced to retire. It is now with hindsight that we can really appreciate how much Leo Messi actually did for the club.
Darwin Machís comes back onto his right foot from the left-hand side of the box. He tees himself up before sending the ball high and wide of Ter Stegen's goal.
Granada get us underway for the second half!
Barcelona have failed to really test Maximiano in the Granada goal. Granada have been solid but Barcelona are lacking that creativity and end product in the final third. Luuk de Jong had a header ruled out for offside after just eight minutes.
HT: Granada 0-0 Barcelona
Fouls
Granada: 4
Barcelona: 8
Two minutes have been added on.
Puertas crosses from the right. Busquets gets in the way, using his hand, but the referee waves play on. It should have been a free in a good position.
The home fans are singing away, but it's the away team with the majority of the ball. Granada have spent much of their history in the lower leagues of Spain and the supporters at Los Cármenes don't take these nights for granted.
Ferran Jutgla works his way inside from the left but fires his long-range shot well over the bar. Jutgla has been lively down the left for the away side.
Robert Moreno will be happy with his side's display thus far. Barcelona have yet to create any genuine chances since their offside goal after eight minutes.
Alves rolled back the years with his long switch from left to right, however, he will be disappointed with his free-kick.
Dani Alves sends a brilliant cross from right to left to get Barcelona up the pitch. Luuk de Jong collects it and is then fouled. This is a free-kick about 35 yards from goal, to the left. Alves ends up taking it and sending it out into touch. It's too high and a goalkick for Granada. 0-0
Ter Stegen saves!
It's a fine stop by the German goalkeeper, who gets down low to deny Machís from opening the scoring.
Barcelona came from behind to beat third-tier side Linares in the Copa del Rey midweek thanks to second half goals from Ousmane Dembélé and Ferran Jutgla.
Gavi pulls Milla back on the edge of the box but the referee waves play on. Milla isn't happy with that one. Gavi needs to be careful.
Luis Milla takes the resulting free-kick but it lands straight into Ter Stegen's hands.
Gavi picks up a booking - his sixth of the league season - for a foul on Luis Suárez.
Xavi hasn't left the touchline since the match started, he is constantly barking instructions.
Luuk de Jong is looking like a more confident player after his goal against Mallorca. He was due to join Cádiz but that seems unlikely now.
De Jong flicks it over the bar!
Ferran Jutgla does really well down the left, before picking out Luuk de Jong in the box. The Dutch forward somehow manages to flick the ball goalwards but it goes just over the bar. The ball is behind him when he hits. It would've been the best goal of his career if it went in!
Dani Alves plays it to Dembélé down the line, but the Frenchman runs out of play with the ball. His future is still up in the air. Xavi wants him to commit his future to club but plenty of clubs around Europe are interested in Dembélé.
Granada are camped deep in their half as Barcelona play it around without any real penetration.
VAR says no goal. It's 0-0 again. VAR also says that Gavi is indeed in the offside position when the cross is delivered. De Jong is not offside when he scores but it has been ruled out.
It's a superb header by the Dutchman.
Looking at the replays, he appears to be onside! We now go to VAR!
Luuk de Jong has the ball in the net but it has been flagged for offside.
Barcelona are undefeated in their last five away matches in LaLiga.
Nico fouls Luis Milla and Granada have a free-kick in the centre circle. Xavi is waving early instructions to his players.
Barcelona beat Mallorca 1-0 last time out in LaLiga thanks to Luuk de Jong's goal. Granada's home form has also been good of late, beating Atlético Madrid and Mallorca to move out of the dropzone.
A reminder that Dani Alves makes his LaLiga debut for Barcelona today. He is wearing the number 8 shirt, previously worn by the great Andrés Iniesta.
Luis Milla whips an early free-kick into the box from the left-hand side of the area. It evades everyone and flies out for a goalkick.
Barcelona play from left to right in their all-yellow strip. Granada are in their red and white stripes, with blue shorts and white socks.
Barcelona get us underway!
Kick-off is just three minutes away!
The players are in the tunnel!
Song 2 blasts out around Los Cármenes ahead of the arrival of both teams onto the pitch. A bit of Blur pre-match is never a bad idea...
Kick-off in Granada is just 20 minutes away!
Barcelona sit in sixth in the LaLiga standings.
| Pts | MP | W | D | L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 33 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 |
| 5 | 32 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | 31 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 4 |
| 7 | 30 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | 28 | 19 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
Granada currently sit 13th in LaLiga
| Pts | MP | W | D | L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 |
| 12 | 23 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 |
| 13 | 23 | 19 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| 14 | 22 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
| 15 | 20 | 20 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
Xavi: "We love Ansu"
Xavi has resisted the urge to play Ansu Fati against Granada on today, instead holding him back for a few extra days in order to feature in Wednesday's Clásico in Riyadh.
"If it were the other way around, playing Madrid tomorrow and the Supercopa against Granada, I would do exactly the same," Xavi told reporters.
"Ansu is fine, [but] I had some doubts that he would be able to play tomorrow's game. For now I prefer to wait because the last experience he had was a relapse.
"We love Ansu 100 per cent, and knowing that he is about to return is spectacular news for us. He has worked very well, with a very strong ambition, capable of making a difference.
"He is a fundamental player, but we do not want to take risks because we would lose him for the rest of the season. I prefer to wait until he is at full capacity – it's a question of physical condition."
Barcelona starting XI vs Granada
Dani Alves makes his second LaLiga debut for Barcelona. Gavi also starts for the Blaugrana.
Granada improving under Moreno
Robert Moreno's team currently sit in 13th place in the LaLiga table and will be hoping to add to their recent home victories by beating the Blaugrana at the Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes today.
Home wins over Atlético Madrid and Mallorca have the Andalusians looking up the table after a poor start to the season and questions marks over the future of Moreno.
Granada defender Domingos Duarte is back from injury but Neyder Lozano and Santiago Arias remain out. Germán Sánchez, Alberto Soro and Rubén Rochina are all doubts due to covid-19.
Barça's recent form
Barcelona beat Mallorca 1-0 last time out in LaLiga thanks to Luuk de Jong's header. The win over Mallorca followed a draw away to Sevilla and a win over Elche. Xavi's Barça side sit in fifth place.
The Catalans came from behind to beat third-tier side Linares in the Copa del Rey midweek thanks to second half goals from Ousmane Dembélé and Ferran Jutgla.
LaLiga misfit Coutinho joins Aston Villa from Barcelona
Philippe Coutinho and Steven Gerrard are back in tandem, nine years after they first began to forge an alliance at Liverpool.
Gerrard referred to Coutinho as a friend this week, but he is also set to be his boss at Aston Villa after the Brazilian agreed to join from Barcelona.
The theory is that if anyone can get a tune out of Coutinho, it should be his former Liverpool captain, given the strong relationship they had on the pitch, which has endured in the years since.
Granada vs Barcelona: times, TV and how to watch online
Barcelona travel to take on Granada in LaLiga on Saturday after their narrow 2-1 victory away to third-tier side Linares on Wednesday.
Xavi's side will now face Athletic Club in the last 16 of the Copa del Rey, a tricky assignment for the Catalan side. Granada can turn their attention to the league, having been recently dumped out of the cup by minnows Atletico Mancha Real. Barça have showed signs of improvement under Xavi and are undefeated in their last five away matches in LaLiga.
Granada vs Barcelona: Hello & welcome!
Hello and welcome to AS USA's live coverage of the 2021/22 LaLiga fixture between Granada vs Barcelona.
Kick-off is at 12:30 ET / 18:30 CET.