World News – United States – Barcelona held by Alaves at 10 to extend winless La Liga streak

Barcelona went four La Liga games without a win on Saturday after failing to beat 10-man Alaves, a 1-1 draw Side of Ronald Koeman seated 12th in the table

Luis Rioja put Alaves in the lead at Mendizorrotza after a mistake by Barca goalkeeper Neto, with Antoine Griezmann equalizing in the second half, one minute after Jota Peleteiro sent off

But with almost half an hour to go and an extra man, Barcelona still haven’t managed to find a winner, settling instead for a draw to accompany the recent losses to Getafe and Real Madrid , and another draw against Sevilla

This means that Madrid, who had already won 4-1 at home against Huesca, are now eight points ahead of their Catalan rivals while Atletico are six ahead after beating Osasuna 3-1 L ‘ Atletico will take the lead if they win a game in hand

Even at this early stage in the title race, the gap is significant and Koeman will know that the scrutiny of his coaching position will increase, especially after Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned as chairman on Tuesday

Bartomeu appointed Koeman coach in August and eight points from the first six league games is not the kind of form that will impress the next chairman and board, who are expected to be elected before the end of January

Koeman’s decision to take Ansu Fati off with 12 minutes left was particularly surprising given that Fati had been arguably Barcelona’s most dangerous player, perhaps even more menacing than Lionel Messi, who endured a frustrating night

Messi still hasn’t scored in open play this season and although he’s been at the heart of almost all of Barca’s attacks his touch and finish wasn’t as sharp as usual He was reserved in the first half for dissent

Fati and Griezmann both missed early chances as a Messi free-kick would have occurred had Florian Lejeune not been perfectly placed on the line

Frenkie de Jong was unlucky enough not to receive a penalty when she was sent off with a free header by Ximo Navarro before a Barca mistake gave Alaves the opening goal

Gerard Pique underestimated how close Neto was to him and the defender’s firmly slapped back pass surprised the goalkeeper Neto failed to clear or adjust his feet and Rioja capitalized, stealing the ball from him and kicking an open net

Koeman made three changes at halftime, with Pedri, Francisco Trincao and Miralem Pjanic all on the way

But Barca struggled to break through Alaves’ defense until Peleteiro gave them an opening He kicked Pique in the face to earn a second yellow card in the 62nd minute and in the 63rd Griezmann equalized, an exquisite and uplifted finish that helped to pull Barcelona level

It was almost 2-1 a minute later, but Messi’s arrival was well saved as Griezmann had a second ruled out for offside

Fati shot on goal before leaving and Pique’s finish was erased from the Alaves line held on

Eden Hazard earlier scored his first goal for Real Madrid in over a year as his side appear to have turned a corner after their comfortable win over Huesca

Hazard has had a terrible time with injuries since joining Madrid for € 100million from Chelsea in 2019, but the Belgian is hoping his superb long-range strike at Alfredo di Stefano can revive his career in Spain

Karim Benzema and Fede Valverde secured the victory before Huesca scored through David Ferreiro, only for Benzema to add his second and fourth from Madrid in added time

It ends an encouraging week for Zinedine Zidane’s side, which started with the Clasico victory at Camp Nou and ends with them at the top of the table, two points ahead of Real Sociedad

Deportivo Alavés, FC Barcelona, ​​La Liga, Lionel Messi, UEFA Champions League