After three months of stellar play under new coach Hansi Flick, Barcelona was on a high ride after convincing victories over Real Madrid in the domestic league and Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Barcelona lost at home for the first time this season when the Spanish league leader was stunned 2-1 by Las Palmas on Saturday.
Following decisive wins over Real Madrid in the domestic league and Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona was riding high following three months of excellent play under new coach Hansi Flick. Overall, it had won all eight of its home games.
However, it has yet to win in three La Liga rounds. It had drawn 2-2 at Celta Vigo and lost 1-0 at Real Sociedad before losing to Las Palmas.
After missing three weeks due to a right ankle injury, Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal made a comeback as a halftime substitution, but Jasper Cillessen stopped his best attempt. In the closing minutes, the Las Palmas goalie also performed admirably by palming a Raphinha free kick over his bar.
Now that Real Madrid has won their game against Getafe 2-0, they just need to win their next match to lead Barcelona by 2 points at the top of the table.
At the Santiago Bernabéu, it was one-way traffic as Los Blancos’ top players performed in front of the home crowd. The first came after Allan Nyom took down Antonio Rüdiger in the box, following high emotions on the field (the game saw 30 fouls).
Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham argued over who should take the next penalty before the Englishman’s ill-advised attempt put the score at 1-0. In response, the former Borussia Dortmund player set up Mbappé on the left wing. He scored 2-0 after striking from way outside the box, off the right post.
In the end, Real Madrid’s effort in the first half was sufficient to secure all three points. They have a game in hand and trail the leaders by one point.
