Barcelona loses at home for the first time this season

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona lost at home for the first time this season when the Liga leader was stunned by Las Palmas 2-1 on Saturday.

Sandro Ramirez and Fábio Silva scored for the Canary Islands club on either side of Raphinha’s equalizer to give Las Palmas its first win at Barcelona in more than 50 years.

Barcelona played superbly in the first three months under new coach Hansi Flick and was flying high after convincing victories over Real Madrid in the domestic competition and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. It had won all eight of its home games.

But it has gone three rounds of La Liga without a win. Before Las Palmas, it fell at Real Sociedad 1-0 and drew at Celta Vigo 2-2 after squandering a two-goal lead in the final minutes.

The dropped points mean Madrid, despite its own troubles, especially in the Champions League, can move ahead of Barcelona in La Liga. It trails Barcelona by four points with two games in hand.

“I don’t care about scoring, I care about winning,” Raphinha said after his standout performance was unable to end Barcelona’s slump.

“We have to take a hard look at what we are doing wrong. We have slipped in our form and are letting games get away form us. We have our next game on Tuesday (at Mallorca), and we need to turn this around so we can win the league.”

Atletico Madrid was only two points behind Barcelona in second place — and with the same number of games played — after Antoine Griezmann scored a gem of a goal in a 5-0 demolition of last-placed Valladolid.

History for Las Palmas

Las Palmas savored its first victory at Barcelona since the 1971-72 season and just its third victory at the Catalan club overall. The other visits by the modest side that wears all yellow uniforms to Barcelona have ended in 34 defeats and three draws.

“We are thrilled because we have made history,” Sandro said. “When you start the season you think that these games are usually going to end in wins for the bigger side, but if there is one thing we believe in is our capacity to work hard all week to get results like this.”

Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal returned from a right ankle injury that sidelined him for three weeks. Yamal appeared as a halftime substitute and Jasper Cillessen saved his best shot. The Las Palmas goalkeeper also palmed a Raphinha free kick over his bar in the final minutes.

Sandro, a former Barcelona youth player, capped a fine five-pass buildup by Las Palmas from its own box as it masterfully undid Barcelona’s high pressure in the 49th minute.

Raphinha had already hit the crossbar in the first half before he equalized in the 61st. The Brazil forward took a short pass from Pedri just outside the area, skirted across the edge and drilled a shot between two defenders.

But Barcelona was caught pushing forward for a second goal when Silva controlled a ball from Javi Muñoz and sent in a shot bouncing past Iñaki Peña in the 67th.

The unexpected loss dampened Barcelona’s celebration of its 125th anniversary, which included the debut of its new mascot “Cat,” a large, yellow feline wearing its team kit.

Balde carried off

Barcelona lost left back Alejandro Balde early in the game when he couldn’t continue after he crashed into Sandro at full speed. Balde appeared to hurt his upper chest or neck area when he ran into Sandro’s shoulder. He was carried off on a stretcher and replaced by Gerard Martín.

Griezmann applauded

Griezmann scored one of the goals of the season when the forward exchanged a quick one-two with Julián Alvarez and used a sleek touch of the inside of his boot to roll the ball with him as he spun before dinking it over the Valladolid goalkeeper.

That was the visitor’s fourth goal. Shortly after, Valladolid fans stood up and applauded when Griezmann was substituted.

“That is what every players wants, to make people enjoy what we do. So I appreciate their warmth,” Griezmann said.

Atletico also got goals from Alvarez, Clement Lenglet, Rodrigo de Paul, and Alexander Sorloth.

Espanyol ends losing streak

Espanyol beat Celta 3-1 to end a streak of four losses in the league and relieve pressure on coach Manolo González.

Alaves also drew with Leganes 1-1 at home.

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