Last-place Leganes struck for two goals in a minute to hand leaders Barcelona their first defeat of the season in a stunning 2-1 final on Wednesday night at the Estadio Butarque in Leganes.
Philippe Coutinho gave Barcelona an early lead, suggesting it would be a straightforward night for the Catalonians. But it was anything but that, as Leganes manager Mauricio Pellegrino had his tactics spot-on to claim the surprising victory.
The Argentine manager relied on the speed of his wingers to overwhelm the slow-moving Barcelona defence, and that led to goals from Nabil El Zhar and Oscar Rodriguez nearly a minute apart in the early stages of the second half.
The performance of the defence, plus a lack of sharpness up front, made for a very frustrating night for Barcelona, who are now suddenly winless in their last two matches.
Never afraid to rotate his squad, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde made a number of significant changes to is starting XI, as striker Luis Suarez yielded his spot to Munir, while Thomas Vermaelen enjoyed a rare start in defense ahead of Jordi Alba.
Barcelona would start strong though and Lionel Messi was the genesis of Coutinho’s opener, as he shed a trio of defenders and fed a ball to the Brazilian, whose initial touch saw him spin the ball up into the air before slicing in a right-footer for a 0-1 advantage.
Leganes did not shy away from the challenge of an equaliser and they certainly kept the Barcelona defence on their heels in the half. The best chances for the hosts came toward the end of the first 45 minutes when a ball was floated to an unmarked En-Nesyri, but his tame header was an easy save for Marc-Andre ter Stegen. That was followed by an Oscar Rodriguez curler that forced Ter Stegento soar to his left to save.
The difference in speed on the flanks was noticeably in Leganes’ favour, and they took advantage at the start of the half when Oscar hauled in a ball over the top on the left wing and looped a cross over for Nabil El Zhar, who beat Vermaelen to the ball and headed in to pull Leganes level 1-1.
If that was stunning to the reigning league champions, what happened less than a minute later was downright shocking. Again, it was another ball over the top, this time on the right to En-Nesyri, whose cross was misplayed by Pique, as the Barcelona centre-back attempted to clear but the ball went right to Oscar and it was a composed finish into an open net for a 2-1 Leganes lead.
Valverde was getting nothing from Munir, so Suarez was brought on to add some finishing product on the hour mark, followed 10 minutes later by Alba and Malcolm for Vermaelen and the ineffective Ousmane Dembele, respectively.
Barcelona’s attack finally kicked into gear in the final 10 minutes of the match and Leganes No.1 Cuellar had to be alert to deny a Coutinho shot and then a follow-up from Ivan Rakitic.
Those two saves would hold up for the home side, and a year after lasting until week 37 before suffering their first defeat, Barcelona has felt the sting of a loss in just week 6.
– Match Sheet:
2- Leganes: Cuellar; Juanfran, Bustinza, Tarin, Silva; Ruben Perez, Carnero, Oscar Rodriguez (Gumbau, min. 74), El Zhar (Nyom, min. 86), Vesga (Sabin, min. 82), En-Nesyri
1- Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Vermaelen (Jordi Alba, min. 71); Busquets, Rakitic, Coutinho; Messi, Munir (Suarez, min. 61), Dembele (Malcolm, min. 71)
Goals: 0-1, min. 12: Coutinho; 1-1, min. 52: El Zhar; 2-1, min. 53: Oscar
Referee: Undiano Mallenco (Navarre).
Yellow Cards: Ruben Perez (Min. 40) for Leganes, Bustinza (Min. 50) for Leganes, Umtiti (Min. 59) for Barcelona, Vermaelen (Min. 64) for Barcelona, Nyom (Min. 88) for Leganes, En-Nesyri (Min. 91) for Leganes
Stadium: Butarque
Attendance: 12.450
