Surprise in Catalunya: Granada scored the leveller and Barcelona are in trouble

For Barcelona there have not been many easy games this season. The team's performances for much of La Liga were disappointing and, even when they did get wins, in most cases the fans left the stadium dissatisfied with the level shown by the players and with the decisions of coach Xavi Hernandez.

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That worsened with the eliminations in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey, and with the defeats in La Liga against Real Madrid and Girona that prevented them from being at the top of the standings. That is why this Sunday Los Blaugranas have the challenge not only to get a win, but also to show a convincing performance. And the opportunity is ideal, as they are facing one of the weakest teams in the tournament, Granada, who are in relegation zone and have won only two games this season.

During the first minutes Barcelona did what they had to do and took an early lead. After 14 minutes, following a good team move down the left side involving Pedri, Joao Cancelo and Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal scored the opener after a drilled cross into the box. That gave them the peace of mind they needed to control the ball and force the visitors to make an extra effort to try to recover it and look for the leveller.

In the minutes Xavi Hernandez's team had several opportunities to double the lead, the most dangerous of which was a shot by Robert Lewandowski that Hongla saved. However, when the first half was about to end, Granada surprised: Facundo Pellistri escaped from Cancelo and sent a cross that Ricard Sanchez received. The defender shot hard and beat Ter Stegen's resistance.

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What will the coach do?

Xavi Hernandez was probably satisfied with the team's performance during the first half, until Granada scored the leveller. Now at half-time he will have to think about whether it is better to keep the same line-up or make some changes. The substitutes are Iñaki Peña, Diego Kochen, Ronald Araujo, Hector Fort, Marc Casado, Fermín Lopez, Raphinha, Marc Guiu and Pau Victor.