Barcelona snatch draw at Espanyol to set club record

Barcelona‘s Gerard Pique says his goal celebration was the least he could have done while marking the goal which earned Barcelona a 1-1 draw in La Liga on Sunday.

But, with Ernesto Valverde throwing Messi into the fray Barcelona did manage to get back on to level terms.

Cornella was recently the venue for Barca’s first defeat in 30 games as Espanyol beat Barca in the King’s Cup less than three weeks ago, only for Barca to overturn the 1-0 defeat with a 2-0 victory in the Camp Nou.

But the way they defended and barely offered Spain’s best attack a sniff at goal will be encouraging for a team that’s languishing in 15th place.

Barcelona went more direct in the closing stages, throwing Pique forward as an emergency striker in the final 10 minutes and the tactical switch paid dividends.

Pique who has earlier been reported to the Spanish Football Federation by Espanyol for referring to the club as “Espanyol de Cornella” – a suburb of the Barcelona metropolitan area – rather than Espanyol de Barcelona was booed by the home fans. “His gesture was what it was”.

Dembele participated in training with his team-mates ahead of Sunday’s derby against Espanyol, but he will not be available for the Liga clash as he soon returned to individual work. We are rivals; the coaches and the players, and also the team-mates.

The flip side of the coin were injuries to central defenders Stefan Savic and Diego Godin (whose teeth were literally sent flying) which could sideline them for next weekend’s trip to Malaga. Sign up here for a free seven-day trial.

On Saturday Real Madrid dropped a further 2 points as they were held to a 2-2 draw away to struggling Levante.

Host Getafe had the best chances, twice hitting the woodwork in a match played under light snow during parts of the second half.

“Messi has played a lot of games in a row, and in the same way Suarez rested when we played here in Copa del Rey, and another player also rested, he also needed to take a break”.

Correa struck from outside the box as he salvaged a scoreless tie to Atletico Madrid’s advantage on Sunday, downing the visiting Valencia 1-0 in front of 50,000 home fans at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium here.