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Barcelona lost for the fourth time in 10 games this season after Cadiz produced a spirited performance to claim a historic 2-1 victory at the Ramón de Carranza, their first at home in La Liga in 14 years!
Alvaro Gimenez and Alvaro Negredo scored on either side of an own goal from Pedro Alcala as the Yellow Submarine beat the Blaugrana for the first time in the league since 1991.
Ronald Koeman's side have only themselves to blame for the loss, as two mistakes from Oscar Minguez and Marc-Andre ter Stegan allowed the home side to take the lead twice in the match, sighting more defensive concerns for Barcelona.
The defeat leaves them seventh in the standings with only four wins from the opening 10 games, their worst start to a season in the top-flight in over 30 years, whereas Cadiz move up to fifth as their fairytale return to La Liga continues.
Here are the major talking points from the match:
#1 Cadiz are a force to be reckoned with
If you told that just three months into the 2020/21 season, a newly promoted side would've beaten the 'big two' of La Liga and sit pretty in European places, no one would've believed it. But that's exactly what Cadiz have pulled off so far.
Back in the top flight after 14 years, the Andalucian minnows were one of the favorites to go down again, but in stark contrast to that, they're matching shoulder-to-shoulder with the bigwigs instead.
Having already taken points off Real Madrid, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, and Granada, the Yellow Submarine picked another (huge) scalp today, beating the mighty Barcelona for the first time since 1991!
Granted that both goals they scored were a result of defensive mistakes from the visitors - more on that ahead - but Alvaro Cervera's side deserve full credit for a spirited performance. They were organized in defense, not letting Barcelona create many scoring chances, and posed a huge threat on the break.
It was a typical performance from Cadiz, who similarly beat Los Blancos last month - scoring early and then sitting deep - and with another stunning victory tonight, showed they're truly a force to be reckoned with.
#2 Individual mistakes cost Barcelona
As much as Cadiz deserve all the plaudits for their heroics, Barcelona must take the blame for some really shambolic defending too. Both goals they conceded tonight were a result of some really comical errors at the back - another reminder of the teething problems facing the Ronald Koeman-era.
Cadiz stole an early lead through Gimenez when the 21-year old centre-back Oscar Mingueza inadvertently turned a corner towards his own goal, leaving the striker to just tap the ball home from point-blank range. However, the next goal was truly embarrassing for Barcelona.
It was series of individual mistakes starting from Jordi Alba's poor throw-in, followed by Clement Lenglet overcommitting himself, and then ter Stegan, most of all, smashing his clearance straight at Negredo, who then rounded De Jong to slot into an empty net.
A cataclysmic goal to concede, but then again, Barcelona have looked woefully vulnerable at the back once again this season, and have now leaked 11 goals from just the opening 10 games in the La Liga season.
#3 What's happened to Lionel Messi's free-kick prowess?
Lionel Messi is often touted as the free-kick king, at least amongst all the active players, for his imperious record from the dead ball. Last season, the Barcelona number 10 struck five in the league and surpassed the 50-goal mark in his career from the free-kicks alone, a truly remarkable record.
However, this season, he's yet to open his account from set-pieces. In tonight's match alone, the Barcelona skipper got three opportunities to erase the anomaly, but each time, he failed to find the target. The first one, in particular, was saved right on the line by Cadiz custodian Jeremias Ledesma.
Given his struggles from open play this season - Messi has scored only once from open play so far - he's often looked to get on the scoresheet from the dead ball. And while his record from the 12 yards has been impeccable so far, his free-kick prowess is yet to be seen this season.
#4 Ronald Koeman gets it all wrong
Cameras panned regularly over Ronald Koeman as the Barcelona manager cut a desolate figure on the sidelines watching his side crumble once again. His expressions showed he's helpless, whereas the fact is, the Dutchman made some tactical mistakes which contributed to Barcelona's misery.
The midfield pivot of Frenkie De Jong and Sergio Busquets just didn't work, as the two had no communication amongst themselves whatsoever, and left many gaps for Cadiz to exploit on the break. Busquets, in particular, was poor and seemed like a player whose best is well behind him. Perhaps, Koeman should just stick with Miralem Pjanic instead of him?
Also, De Jong had to push into the centre-back role after Minguez was taken off. Why not just bring on someone more natural in that position like Ronald Araujo, who was on the bench? Then, he took off one of the best players on the pitch in Sergino Dest for Francisco Trincao, robbing Barcelona off the agility and guile he brought from the right flank.
Koeman threw everything he had against the wall to see if anything sticks, but none did. Maybe, its time for him to go back to the drawing board and work out the team's best formation and best options?
#5 Barcelona's poor record on the road continues
For the first time since the 2007/08 season under Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona have failed to win any of their last four games on the road, losing thrice. This has kept the side from truly getting their season of the mark and now find themselves seventh in the table with just 14 points from 10 games.
Each of their defeats too, has come against teams they don't normally lose to - the loss to Getafe was their first since 2011, Atletico Madrid beat them for the first time since 2010, and now Cadiz, who won against them in La Liga after 29 years!
With such a disappointing start to the campaign, Barcelona still look like they're a long way off from reclaiming the Spanish title from arch-rivals Real Madrid. The side is clearly still plagued by numerous issues, and now, poor form away from home has propped up some new ones.
