Barcelona finished Matchday 24 in second place in the LaLiga table, two points behind the leaders, following a painful 2-1 defeat in the Catalan derby away to Girona at Montilivi on Monday night. The loss left Real Madrid atop the standings and extended Barcelona’s recent struggles to consecutive defeats across all competitions for the first time since October.
After dominating the first half and failing to convert several giant chances, the Blaugrana fell apart in the second half despite taking the lead and conceded a controversial late goal to drop all three points on the road. The passionate Montilivi crowd, with over 14,000 roaring on their side, created an intense atmosphere for this Catalan derby full of rivalry and stakes.
Barcelona struck the woodwork twice in a chaotic first half. Raphinha rattled the post moments before halftime, then teenage sensation Lamine Yamal compounded the frustration in first-half stoppage time. Barcelona were awarded a penalty when Daley Blind fouled Dani Olmo, but Yamal’s spot kick hit the post. They eventually found the opener in the 59th minute when Jules Kounde’s delivery into the box was nodded into the top corner by Pau Cubarsí. Cubarsí rose to meet it with the perfect header, driving the ball into the top-left corner. It was nice compensation for the one so cruelly disallowed a few days earlier in the cup, but the celebrations were pitifully short.
Girona responded only two minutes later when Thomas Lemar easily tapped home from Vladyslav Vanat’s low pass across the six-yard box. Practically from the restart, Girona unleashed an attack of their own that ended with Lemar tapping the ball over the line to make it 1-1.
Fran Beltrán rifled home the winning goal from the edge of the box inside the final five minutes to further rub salt into Barcelona’s wounds, with Hansi Flick left confused by VAR’s decision not to overturn the goal after an apparent foul on Jules Koundé. There was further late drama that saw Joel Roca shown a straight red card after hacking down Yamal in midfield as the talented forward surged forward in the dying seconds of a lively Catalan derby.
Raphinha made his return to the starting lineup from injury and was involved from the beginning, creating multiple chances that went unconverted. With so many chances for both sides, it was extraordinary that it took an hour for the first goal to be scored, and then in the space of just two minutes there were two.
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Girona, operating with pace on the counter-attack, repeatedly tested Barcelona’s high defensive line. Girona were bringing plenty to the derby party, giving Joan García plenty to think about and coming especially close when Vladyslav Vanat narrowly failed to connect with a killer pass from the omnipresent Bryan Gil. García produced several outstanding saves to keep Barcelona in the contest, but was powerless to prevent Beltrán’s decisive strike.
“We have to improve because they can’t score these two goals against us,” Cubarsí told DAZN. “We have to be self-critical, we didn’t play a great game, we have to improve, but now we have to rest and charge our batteries.”
It’s fair to say it’s been a rather tough week for Hansi Flick’s Barcelona. Thursday saw the blaugrana embarrassed by a rampant Atlético Madrid side, seriously denting their hopes of progression to the Copa del Rey final, and now they have conceded control of the LaLiga title fight to Real Madrid. Both games were marred by controversial VAR decisions, and fans are, perhaps understandably, less than content.
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Barcelona remain on 58 points from 24 matches, two behind Real Madrid, who defeated Real Sociedad on Saturday to reclaim top spot. Girona, who had entered the match on a three-game winless run and hovering near the relegation zone, climbed to 12th on 29 points with the victory, providing crucial breathing room in their survival battle. The result compounds what has become a troubling pattern for Barcelona at a critical juncture of the season. Their inability to convert dominance into goals, combined with defensive lapses immediately after taking the lead, suggests systemic issues that a title-challenging side cannot afford to carry into the season’s final stretch.
Flick’s side must regroup quickly as the fixture list offers no respite. With Real Madrid now in control of the title race and Barcelona’s Copa del Rey prospects severely damaged, the pressure to respond immediately has intensified. Whether the team can rediscover the clinical edge that characterized much of their earlier campaign will determine if this derby defeat becomes a minor setback or the beginning of a more serious collapse.