Barcelona 1-1 Espanyol: Match Review

Barcelona’s first game after the restart saw them participate in the much-awaited Catalan derby against Espanyol. Only a win would see them retain their lead over Real Madrid, and the passion was visible from the very first minute.

For the special game, Xavi Hernandez called upon an interesting mix of players beginning with Marc Andre Ter Stegen in goal.

Jordi Alba, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, and Sergi Roberto were deployed in defence while Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and Gavi manned the midfield. In the final third, the coach trusted Ansu Fati, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski.

First half

Espanyol began the game with a high press aimed at destabilising Barcelona’s rhythm and the plan worked in the opening exchanges. However, the Blaugrana did not take long to regain control and created the first chance of the game in just the sixth minute.

The move saw Gavi place the ball just wide of the goalpost, but it was the resulting corner that made the headlines.

Christensen won the ball from the set piece in the air and headed it across the face of the goal to Marcos Alonso. The summer signing got onto the end of it and headed the ball powerfully past Alvaro Fernandez.

Ten minutes later, Barcelona had another clear scoring opportunity when Alba’s cross fell comfortably at Alonso’s feet. This time, however, the Spaniard was not as effective.

Barcelona dominated the opening period with their Catalan opponents not being awarded any breathing space. Their counterattacks were quite comfortably handled by the hosts’ defence in what was a coherent effort.

The last big chance of the first period fell at the feet of Raphinha. Receiving the ball on the edge of the area, the Brazilian fired a low shot to the corner of the goal only for it to be stopped by Fernandez.

Second half

The second half was a rather dull affair for the better part as the two sides traded passes and possession. Gavi, Ansu Fati, and Raphinha were replaced by Sergio Busquets, Ousmane Dembele and Ferran Torres respectively at the hour mark.

Then, however, the tables turned. Espanyol began creating better openings through Edu Exposito and posed a serious threat in the final third.

The visitors won a penalty in the 72nd minute when Joselu was taken down by Marcos Alonso in the area. Taking the spot kick, Joselu seamlessly floated it past ter Stegen to level the scores.

Things went from bad to worse a few minutes later when Jordi Alba was shown a second yellow card for his loud protests. As he walked off the field, however, Mateu Lahoz showed red cards to Leandro Cabrera and Vinicius Souza to negate Espanyol’s advantage.

A ridiculous VAR intervention saw Cabrera’s ruling shifted from a straight red card to no card at all, enabling the Uruguayan to continue on the field. Thus, the equation remained 10 vs 10.

Fernandez then made two world-class saves to deny Lewandowski of potential winners and kept his side in the game. Nine minutes of extra time were added on, but neither side could take advantage.

The game ended 1-1 with both Catalan sides sharing the spoils. Barcelona dropped two valuable points in a game dominated by controversial refereeing and are now level on points with Real Madrid after 15 matches.