This is Sportstar's blog/highlights of the 2020-21 La Liga Santander outing between Barcelona and Granada at the Los Cármenes.
That's it for today. Thanks for tuning in!
Captain Lionel Messi and his strike partner Antoine Griezmann scored a double each against Granada CF away from home tonight. Messi is now the leading goal scorer in the latest edition of the Spanish top-division, with 11 goals from 17 appearances, while also providing four assists.
MATCH REPORT |
FC Barcelona wins three games on the trot for the first time in the 2020-21 La Liga season. Manager Ronald Koeman must be a relieved man as his side moves into the third position in the standings, with 34 points from 18 games, only behind Atletico Madrid SAD and Real Madrid CF.
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:
AND IT'S FULL-TIME! GRANADA CF 0 - 4 FC BARCELONA!!!
90+2' One final chance to find a goal for Granada. Goalkeeper Rui Silva comes off his line towards midfield and sends in a long-ball into the box. But the Barcelona defence clears the ball away to avert the danger.
90' Just two minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the second half! Martin Braithwaite gets the ball and has a shot from the edge of the box. But he misses the target by a huge margin.
88' BOOKING! Jordi Alba comes up with a lazy challenge on Granada's Antonio Puertas. The referee shows the Barcelona defender a yellow card.
86' CORNER FOR GRANADA! Luis Suarez receives the ball in the final third and unleashes a shot on target. But his shot is blocked by a Barca defender and the ball rolls out for a Granada set-piece.
84' BARCA CHANCE! Martin Braithwaite and Ricard Puig exchange a one-two pass and move forward. The former tries to find Jordi Alba on the left wing but the Barcelona left-back isn't able to reach the ball on time.
82' YELLOW CARD! Barcelona's defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets goes into the referee's book for a mistimed tackle on a Granada player.
80' BARCA CHANGE! Junior Firpo is brought on into the middle by manager Ronald Koeman to replace full-back Sergino Dest.
78' RED CARD! It goes from bad to worse for Granada CF. Jesus Vallejo is sent off by the referee for an ugly tackle on Barca forward Antoine Griezmann. FREE-KICK! Miralem Pjanic will take the set-piece and he fires the ball straight into the wall. Granada regains possession.
75' BOOKING! Granada's Luis Suarez brings down a FC Barcelona player from behind in midfield. The referee penalises him for his aggressive behaviour.
72' FEW MORE SUBSTITUTIONS! Trincao and Ricard Puig replace Ousmane Dembele and Pedri for Barcelona, while Yangel Herrera makes way for Granada substitute Alberto Soro in the middle.
69' FOUL! Granada's German Sanchez brings down a Barca player in midfield. The referee awards the away side a free-kick. Meanwhile, Barcelona has committed only one foul tonight. Brilliant!
67' DOUBLE CHANGE! Barcelona head coach Koeman decides to bring back Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong into the dugout. He deploys Martin Braithwaite and Miralem Pjanic in the middle.
65' SUBSTITUTION! Granada manager Martinez makes his fourth change of the night. Darwin Marchis makes way for Kenedy in the middle.
63' GOOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!! GRIEZMANN COMPLETES HIS BRACE NOW!!! BARCELONA 4 - 0 GRANADA! Ousmane Dembele received a long-pass from Serigio Busquets. He took a good touch to control the ball and crossed it towards Antoine Griezmann inside the box. The French forward came up with calm finish to extend Barca's lead.
60' GRANADA CHANCE! Darwin Marchis gets a glorious opportunity to pull one back for his team. But his shot from close range misses the target by a whisker.
57' VERY CLOSE! Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong makes a brilliant solo run from midfield. He initially tries to set up one of his forwards. However, the rebound falls back to him and De Jong fires a shot over the crossbar.
54' BARCA CHANCE! Jordi Alba puts in a wonderful run on the left flank. He has a cluster of teammates inside the box. He attempts to cross the ball into the middle. But the Granada defence averts the danger.
51' YELLOW CARD! Oscar Mingueza is the first Barcelona player to be booked tonight. He put in a poor tackle on an opponent and the referee doesn't hesitate to show him a card.
48' TRIPLE SUBSTITUTION!!! Granada CF manager Diego Martinez makes three changes ahead of the final 45 minutes. He brings on Luis Javier Suarez Charris, Jesus Vallejo and Luis Milla to replace Roberto Soldado, Carlos Neva and Angel Montoro in the middle.
AND THE SECOND HALF BEGINS!
The match will resume after a short break.
Forty-five minutes to go. Stay Tuned!
AND IT'S HALF-TIME!!!
45' One minute of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the first half! Roberto Soldado puts in a mistimed tackle. YELLOW CARD! The referee penalises Soldado and awards Barca a free-kick.
42' GOAAAAAALLLL!!!!! MESSI SCORES AGAIN!!! BARCELONA 3 - 0 GRANADA! It was a Barca free-kick and Messi stepped up to take it just outside the box. He fired a low shot to the bottom left corner and beat Granada keeper Rui Silva. Messi is now the leading goal-scorer of the 2020-21 La Liga with 11 goals.
40' BARCA CHANCE! Sergino Dest makes a brilliant run on the right flank. He finds Ousmane Dembele unmarked at the edge of the box. However, Dembele's final shot misses the target.
38' SHOT! Antonio Puertas with another move forward for Granada. But he gets into final third and lets one fly from long. The balls goes above the crossbar.
35' GOOOOAALLLLLL!!!!!! LIONEL MESSI SCORESSSSS!!! BARCELONA 2 - 0 GRANADA! Sergio Busquets brought the ball forward from midfield and released Antoine Griezmann near the box. The latter teed up Messi who curls the ball to the top left corner of the goalpost.
31' FREE-KICK FOR BARCELONA! Granada's Dimitri Foulquier pulls down a Barca player and concedes a set-piece. Lionel Messi will take it. However, the home team's defence clears the ball away.
29' OFFSIDE! Granada's Antonio Puertas is a little too eager to move forward. The referee allows the move to continue and blows his whistle after the ball goes out of play.
26' DOUBLE INJURY! Two of Barcelona's defenders go to the ground. Sergino Dest and Samuel Umtiti are receiving treatment in the middle. The physios take Dest out, Umtiti is cleared by the physio. In fact, the former returns as well much to the delight of Barca coach Koeman.
23' SHOT! Granada forward Roberto Soldado receives a pass from his teammate Carlos Neva and makes a run towards the box. He takes a shot but the ball goes wide off target.
20' CLOSE! Pedri takes the ball forward for Barca on the left wing. He moves to the middle and misplaces a pass. But the rebound falls to Ousmane Dembele who goes on a brilliant solo run. However, two Granada players react well to regain possession.
17' RED CARD! One of Barcelona's assistant coaches is sent off by the for some heated argument. He's making the long walk back to the dressing room.
15' CORNER FOR GRANADA! The home side has looked lethal up front so far. It wins another set-piece but isn't able to do anything productive with it.
12' GOOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!! ANTOINE GRIEZMANN SCORES!!! BARCELONA 1 - 0 GRANADA! The referee initially ruled the goal out for offside but after seeing replays he's awarded Barca the goal. Lionel Messi passed the ball to Sergio Busquets, who tried to find his captain again inside the box. But the ball took a big deflection off Roberto Soldado, which wasn't noticed earlier, and headed towards Griezmann, who found the back of the net with a calm finish.
8' CROSS! Ousmane Dembele takes the ball forward on the right flank. He attempts to put in a low cross into the penalty box but keeper Rui Silva comes off his line to make the clearance.
5' THROW-IN! Granada's Dimitri Foulquier evades a few opposition players and enters the final third but a good tackle from Barca's Sergio Busquets gives Granada a throw-in.
3' CORNER FOR GRANADA! Angel Montoro will take the set-piece. He sends in a cross into the box but the Barcelona defence clears away the ball with ease.
2' GOOD SAVE! Good move forward by Granada CF early on. Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen pulled off an incredible save off an Antonio Puertas shot from just outside the box.
AND THE MATCH BEGINS!
NOTE: Samuel Umtiti has replaced Ronald Araujo in the Barca playing XI tonight after the latter was injured during pre-match warm-up!
READ |
The team line-ups are out!
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen (G), Dest, Araujo, Mingueza, Alba, Pedri, Busquets, De Jong, Dembele, Griezmann, Messi (C).
COACH: Ronald Koeman.
Granada XI: Silva (G), Foulquier, Sanchez (C), Duarte, Neva, Montoro, Brice Eteki, Machis, Herrera, Puertas, Soldado.
COACH: Diego Martinez.
MATCH PREVIEW:
FC Barcelona will be aiming to record its third straight La Liga victory when it travels to Granada CF on Saturday, and the Catalan giants now have the top two in their sights.
After a troubled start to life under Ronald Koeman, Barcelona seems to have turned over a new leaf of late. The team is currently on a seven-game unbeaten run and will be out to extend it at the Los Carmenes.
Manager Koeman seems to have finally found his best starting eleven, and also discovered that as long as Lionel Messi and Pedri are on the pitch together, there’s a really good chance for more victories on the road.
Meanwhile, Granada is currently in seventh place in the standings and has exceeded expectations this season. The home side suffered a 2-0 defeat against Eibar last week and will want to bounce back in this game.
Barca surged into the top-three for the first time this edition with an excellent 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao. However, it has plenty of work to do to remain in contention for the 2020-21 title and cannot afford to drop points in this fixture.
The corresponding fixture last season saw Granada pull off a shock 2-0 victory over Barcelona, thanks mainly to goals from Ramon Azeez and Alvaro Vadillo.
Granada will be without the services of Luis Milla, Angel Montoro and Neyder Lozano through injury, but Machis made his return off the bench against Cultural Leonesa in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday night and could potentially feature this weekend.
As for Barca, Sergi Roberto, Ansu Fati and Gerard Pique remain on the sidelines through injury, while Philippe Coutinho is out for three months following knee surgery.
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