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FC Barcelona conceded the La Liga title to archrivals Real Madrid after a damaging 1-2 loss against 10-men Osasuna on Thursday night.
After starting the game with a lot of flair, Barcelona conceded the opening goal in the 15th minute of the first half. Despite levelling via a brilliant Lionel Messi freekick, the home team failed to capitalise in a must-win game at the Camp Nou.
In their last game at the Camp Nou, that has turned out to be a fortress for FC Barcelona in recent times, Lionel Messi and co. lost, what people believed to be a straightforward game.
It is quite fitting that Barcelona, who were last defeated at home by Real Betis way back in 2018, punctured their impressive home record for this season, while Real Madrid playing at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano against Villarreal, walked away with a 2-1 victory.
As the home season of the La Liga comes to an end, a lot needs to be discussed, debated and changed for the Blaugrana, but for today, here are the 5 Talking Points of the game as Barcelona surrendered their La Liga crown to Real Madrid this season.
#1 Osasuna exploit Barcelona's right flank
It has become quite customary that the teams now try to exploit Barcelona on their right flank. With Nelson Semedo given the license to attack, the opponents try to go as wide as possible and get in a cross in search of a goal.
It was no different tonight with left-back Pervis Estupiñán darting forward in the Barcelona right flank and putting in a low cross in the box. The ball deflected off Gerard Pique and fell kindly to former Barcelona man José Arnaiz who finished clinically beating Barcelona goalkeeper, Marc Andre ter Stegen.
#2 10-men Osasuna win hearts
It takes a lot of courage to play against a team like Barcelona, it probably takes a bit more, to play them at home. Osasuna did their homework before they stepped into the Camp Nou and that showed in the manner they executed their plans tonight.
They kept the Barcelona defence on their toes with their fast counters and once they got their goal, defended deep and narrow, cutting the Barca passing channels in the final third.
While the plan worked perfectly, they had to soak in a tremendous amount of pressure.
After Lionel Messi equalised in the 62nd minute, Osasuna coach Jagoba Arrasate made a double change, with a clear intent of pushing for the second goal.
Scorer Jose Arnaiz made way for Enrique Barja and Adrian Lopez was subbed off for Enric Gallego in the 70th minute.
Seven minutes later all the homework, discipline and execution would be undone by a reckless elbow on Clement Lenglet's face by Gallego, prompting the referee to consult VAR and show him a straight red card.
However, the visitors would go on to hold off the home team with their grit and sheer passion for the game and would be rewarded in the 94th minute to seal a special victory at the Camp Nou.
#3 Barcelona keep losing the ball in key areas
Lionel Messi in his post-match interview did not hold back any punches
It was a fitting summary of the season, where Barcelona seem to have forgotten their identity.
Against Osasuna, Barcelona lost possession in the attacking third and looked clueless about breaking a defence that had a clear plan in mind.
For that matter, Osasuna's second goal came from a careless header from Sergio Busquets who switched off at the most crucial stage of the game.
#4 Where was this hunger all season?
Barcelona might have lost the game tonight, but the match was not devoid of positives.
There was a sense of adventure in Barcelona's game tonight. The players ran more than usual, they took more shots than they do in most games and despite going 0-1 down in the 15th minute, they kept that adventure alive.
At the half time break, Barcelona had already taken 8 corners, 2 freekicks and fired in 8 shots. The problem, most of them were not on target.
However, it needs to be noted that, even if Barcelona had shown half the heart that they showed tonight on the pitch, the away record this season could easily have been different.
In a game that was marred by indecision in the attacking zones and indecisiveness in key areas, Barcelona actually played some positive football, a testament to the fact that this team can still offer exciting football. A brand that had been missing since the start of this season.
#5 Busquets, Suarez, Rakitic; it's the same problem for Barcelona
Why do we keep getting back to this again and again and again?
Out of the three mentioned, two of them were introduced between the 60th-67th minute. The single contribution from Suarez post his introduction was his offside goal; for the rest of the time, he was out of touch with the pace of the game. He tried things that did not come off, or he simply strayed offside during the Barcelona build-up.
Busquets, on the other hand, was decent-ish for the most part since his introduction, but, it was his horrendous error that cost Barcelona the game. He has been guilty of the same several times this season, and it has been a spectacular fall from grace for the once legendary Sergio Busquets.
With that out of the way, the final part of the problem trio that needs to be addressed is Ivan Rakitic. Absent for the most part of the game, Rakitic's lateral passing throughout the season has borne next to nothing.
With four assists and one goal in the entire season from the midfielder, it is probably time to do what Barcelona wanted to at the beginning of this season, get rid of Ivan Rakitic.
With just one match remaining in La Liga, Barcelona will try to redeem themselves by getting their hands on the Champions League trophy.
It is important and of utmost priority after what has transpired in the last 12 months, because the fans have finally run out of patience with FC Barcelona.
