Granada 1-1 Barcelona: 5 Talking Points as Blaugrana pegged back at the death | La Liga 2021-22 

Granada scored a late equaliser to force a share of the spoils against Barcelona in a La Liga game on Saturday.

Luuk de Jong opened the scoring for the visitors in the 57th minute, lunging highest to meet a delicious cross from Dani Alves. The Blaugrana, though, failed to build on their advantage, and they were made to pay for that.

The game turned when Gavi received his marching orders. The hosts turned the screw, and threw everything at Barcelona. They eventually drew level in the 89th minute when Antonio Puertas scored a rocket to deny Barcelona all three points.

The draw means Barcelona find themselves a whopping 17 points behind their arch-rivals and leaders Real Madrid, albeit with a game in hand. On that note, here's a look at the five talking points from the game:

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#5 Luuk de Jong sizzles for Barcelona

Luuk de Jong rejoices after scoring a goal.

Luuk de Jong had a great game against Granada. The Dutch international's performances since the start of the year have been praiseworthy, as he has looked like a new version of himself.

De Jong looked threatening from the start against Granada. The 31-year-old headed past Luis Maximiano in the opening half, but his effort was ruled out for offside.

He also attempted a scorpion kick minutes later, which was not far off target. De Jong eventually scored to cap off an impressive performance, heading in an Alves cross.

The striker now has three goals for the Blaugrana, his second in as many games this year.

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#4 Dani Alves rolls back the years against Granada

Dani Alves in action action Granada

Dani Alves is a Barcelona legend, but there were doubts when the club re-signed him. However, so far, he has been like a breath of fresh air on the right flank.

In his first La Liga appearance in over five years, he showed why the Camp Nou adores him so much. In the process, the 38-year-old became the oldest player to feature for Barcelona in a league match, surpassing Jose Manuel Pinto's record.

Alves set up Luuk de Jong with a pin-point delivery as his crosses caused chaos in the Granada box.

#3 Gavi red card hurts Barcelona

Gavi could have avoided a red.

Gavi may have impressed for Barcelona this season, but his lack of experience was clearly visible against Granada. The 17-year-old was the first player to be yellow carded on the night. He was shown a yellow for a mistimed sliding tackle on Darwin Machis in the 22nd minute.

The teenager received his second of the night ten minutes from time when he brought down Alex Collado. He repeated the same mistake twice and paid the price for it.

Granada made their numerical advantage count as they forced a share of the spoils.

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#2 Granada show character

Antonio Puertas pegs back Barcelona.

Although Barcelona were the more dominant side on the night, Granada never allowed the Blaugrana to take complete control of the game. The hosts were spot-on with their high press, and also drew a few magnificent saves out of Marc Andre ter Stegen.

Despite going down in the second half, they managed to salvage something from the game. They were rewarded for their persistence when Antonio Puertas scored a peach of a goal to put the hosts on level terms.

The draw means Granada are now 12th in the league table.

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#1 Barcelona squander chance to move into top four

Xavi was not a happy man after Granada's equaliser..

Barcelona had an excellent opportunity to move into the top four, but they squandered it. The Blaugrana would have moved third if they had not dropped points against Granada, but that was eventually not to be.

Xavi's men controlled the game for large swathes, but lost the plot in the closing moments as they failed to thwart Granada. The Blaugrana now play their arch-rivals Real Madrid in midweek in the Spanish Super Cup.