Is Barcelona fading away?
Madrid, September 21
Less than a week after a demoralising loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, Barcelona faltered at Camp Nou again, being held by winless Granada 1-1 in the Spanish league.
Barcelona needed a 90th-minute equaliser by defender Ronald Araujo, sparking jeers by many in the crowd of nearly 27,000 on Monday.
The setback followed the 3-0 rout by Bayern in the team’s first defeat since losing Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain, and added pressure on coach Ronald Koeman and club president Joan Laporta.
Granada came to Barcelona winless in four matches and coming off two consecutive losses, including at home against Real Betis in the Andalucia derby last week. They defeated Barcelona at Camp Nou the last time they met in April.
“It’s a shame,” Araujo said. “If we had been able to score earlier we could have gotten the victory. After the early goal they sat back and that made it difficult for us.”
The draw left Barcelona in seventh place, five points from leader Real Madrid with a game in hand.
Perfect Napoli
Udine (Italy): Four men. Four touches. One exquisite goal. Napoli executed a set-piece to perfection for their second goal in a 4-0 win at Udinese on Monday that extended the team’s perfect start to Serie A.
Lorenzo Insigne rolled his free-kick across to Fabian Ruiz who then lifted the ball toward the far post for Kalidou Koulibaly to run onto and cross for Amir Rrahmani, who headed it in.
Napoli’s other goals were also worth admiring.
The visitors took the lead when a through ball from Mario Rui set up Insigne’s lob shot that Victor Osimhen pounded in. Koulibaly added another after the break with a blistering effort following another free-kick. Subsitute Hirving Lozano then sealed it with a curled shot six minutes from time. — AP
Injured Messi to miss clash with Metz
PARIS: Lionel Messi is suffering from bone bruising, the Ligue 1 club said today, and will miss Paris St Germain’s trip to Metz tomorrow. “Lionel Messi, following the knock received on his left knee, has undergone an MRI this morning which confirms the signs of bone contusion, a new assessment will be made in 48 hours,” PSG said in a statement. PSG lead the Ligue 1 standings with a maximum 18 points. Reuters
