Barcelona Dramatically Lose Points to Celta Vigo After Two Late Goals
Despite looking set for a return to winning ways, Hansi Flick’s team dramatically lost points in the final moments. Barcelona seemed to be cruising toward victory with goals in both halves, but a red card to Marc Casado with just eight minutes left changed the game. In the next four minutes, Celta Vigo scored two quick goals to snatch a dramatic draw.
The La Liga match at Celta’s stadium ended in a 2-2 draw on Saturday night.
Raphinha gave Barcelona the lead, and Robert Lewandowski doubled the advantage in the second half. However, late goals from Gonçalves and Álvarez for Celta leveled the score.
This marks the first time since November 2021 that Barcelona has dropped points after leading by two goals in a La Liga match. Coincidentally, their opponents in that match were also Celta. Back then, Barcelona was 3-0 up, but a 96th-minute goal from Iago Aspas ended the game in a 3-3 draw.
After this result, Barcelona has lost points in two consecutive league matches. Their seven-match winning streak was broken just before the international break with a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad.
Missing the injured Lamine Yamal for the second consecutive match, Barcelona took a little time to settle into the game. They took the lead in the 15th minute when Raphinha controlled a long pass from Jules Koundé, danced past a defender, and scored with a left-foot shot.
Raphinha has now scored 13 goals and assisted 10 in 18 appearances across all competitions this season. His eight league goals this season are the most he has scored in a single La Liga campaign for Barcelona.
Celta’s goalkeeper, Iñaki Peña, made an excellent save in the 20th minute, denying a powerful volley from Barcelona’s Elías Moriba. In the 26th minute, Celta appealed for a penalty after Barcelona defender Gérard Martín fouled Iago Aspas inside the box, but the referee waved it away.
Lewandowski thought he had extended Barcelona’s lead in the 41st minute with a chipped shot over the goalkeeper, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Moments later, Celta’s goalkeeper denied Dani Olmo’s low shot from outside the box.
In the second half, Barcelona made a defensive change, bringing on Ekito Forte for Martín. Lewandowski doubled the lead in the 61st minute after a defensive mistake, taking advantage of a poor clearance to score with a right-foot shot.
However, Celta refused to give up. Peña made two crucial saves in the 65th and 67th minutes to keep Barcelona at bay.
The turning point came in the 82nd minute when Marc Casado was shown a second yellow card and sent off for a foul, leaving Celta with a numerical advantage. In the 84th minute, Celta capitalized on a mistake by Barcelona’s Koundé, as Gonçalves scored to pull one back. Then, in the 86th minute, Álvarez netted a goal from inside the six-yard box to complete the comeback.
Barcelona remains at the top of La Liga with 34 points from 14 matches, but Atletico Madrid (29 points) and Real Madrid (27 points) are closely following. Celta Vigo, with 18 points, are in 11th place.
