Barcelona were brought back down to Earth with a 2-1 loss to Deportivo La Coruna in the La Liga
Luis Enrique’s side were riding high on confidence following their glorious 6-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League in midweek but the Catalans were unable to put on a similar performance and were dealt a blow in the title race.
Enrique made five changes from the side who beat PSG 6-1, with the injured Neymar ruled out. Barcelona fell behind when Joselu scored from a corner but Luis Suarez quickly pulled one back for the hosts. Alex Bergantinos’ header from yet another corner was then enough for the hosts to see out a victory.
It is a hugely disappointing result for Barcelona and speaking after the game, Luis Enrique maintained that Barcelona were strong at defending set pieces but that he would have to look more closely at the numbers when it came to defending corners.
” Corner kicks? We have to look at all the stats. That’s the way it went today, but we’re solid in that department. It’s tough to take because it was important to stay on the winning path, but it wasn’t to be. They took advantage on a pair of corner kicks and the could have had another on the counterattack,” he said.
” We thought it would be a tough game because of everything that’s gone on. The last game can always play a role. Euphoria is always preferable to pessimism, but we were aware of the difficulty. I foresaw maximum difficulty. At this point of the season, with teams that need points, it’s hard. It was for us and it will be for any team.”
It was the first game Barcelona have ever lost when Luis Suarez has scored, a record which read 67 wins and five draws. Real Madrid then managed to beat Real Betis 2-1 which saw them retake the lead at the top of the table.
Los Blancos also have a game in hand over Barcelona and Enrique’s men will have to make sure there are no more slip-ups in the title-race, which looks to be getting more and more interesting as the weeks pass by.
