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FULL-TIME, Alavés 1-1 Barcelona: Alavés survive a barrage of pressure from Barça and escape with a point. Tough one, this.
93min: Barça keep creating chances but Alavés keep making block after block! So much pressure and desperation from the visitors.
87min: Pacheco! Two big saves from the Alavés keeper, first to stop Dest then Pjanic.
85min: Another goal disallowed as Messi is offside after a pass from Trincão.
77min: Final change from Koeman as Martin Braithwaite comes on for Ansu Fati.
71min: GOAL DISALLOWED! Griezmann thought he had given Barça the lead, but Trincão was just offside when he received a pass before assisting Griezmann.
68min: Fourth change of the game for Barça as Sergiño Dest replaces Jordi Alba.
65min: SAVE! Amazing stop from Pacheco to stop Messi from scoring what seemed like a certain goal.
GOAL!!! Alavés 1-1 Barcelona (Griezmann 63’): BARÇA EQUALIZE!!! Tomás Pina tries to win the ball but accidentally passes it to Griezmann, who chips the keeper and makes it all square!
62min: RED CARD! Jota Peteleiro is sent off for a second yellow card.
54min: CLOSE! Sergi Roberto with the cross, and Ansu almost scores with his left foot but the shot goes just wide.
52min: Barça bringing on some real pressure to start the half, with lots of bodies attacking the box and Alavés are hanging on for dear life.
46min: Ronald Koeman makes three changes at halftime: Miralem Pjanic comes on for Busquets, Pedri replaces Lenglet (with Frenkie De Jong now at center-back), and Francisco Trincão is on in place of Ousmane Dembélé.
SECOND HALF KICKOFF! Alavés 1-0 Barcelona: And we’re underway! Let’s make a comeback, boys!
HALFTIME, Alavés 1-0 Barcelona: After a solid start Barça have unraveled after conceding a strange goal. The things that happen to this team away from home...
44min: Yellow cards for Sergio Busquets and Clément Lenglet, first for trying to stop a counter-attack, then actually doing it.
39min: Lionel Messi booked for dissent after kicking the ball in anger right in front of the referee.
GOAL, Alavés 1-0 Barcelona (Rioja 31’): Alavés take the lead in the bizarrest of ways. Gerard Piqué passes the ball back to Neto, who can’t control it and loses it to Luis Rioja, who simply passes the ball to an open net.
23min: CHANCE! Lionel Messi fires a low free-kick from the edge of the box but Lejeune makes a great clearance off the line.
20min: Another miss! Antoine Griezmann plays a very nice one-two with Fati inside the box but terribly mishits the ball and sends his shot wide.
12min: HUGE MISS! Lenglet plays a PERFECT through ball to Ansu Fati who’s all alone in front of goal, but the phenom drags his shot wide and wastes a golden chance.
KICKOFF! Alavés 0-0 Barcelona: And we’re underway! Come on, boys!
LINEUPS
BARCELONA
Starting XI: Neto; Roberto, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Busquets, De Jong; Dembélé, Messi, Fati; Griezmann (4-2-3-1)
Bench: Iñaki Peña (GK), Arnau (GK), Dest, Firpo, Pjanic, Aleñá, Pedri, Trincão, Konrad, Braithwaite
ALAVÉS
Starting XI: Pacheco; Méndez, Navarro, Laguardia, Lejeune, Duarte; Jota, Battaglia, Pina, Rioja; Deyverson (5-4-1)
Bench: Sivera (GK), Rodríguez, Ely, Pérez, Joselu, Guidette, Marín, Burgui, García, Martín, Sainz, Tavares
WELCOME TO THE ESTADIO DE MENDIZORROTZA!!! The cozy home of Alavés is the site of a big La Liga match between the hosts and Barcelona, who come into this one on the back of an important victory against Juventus and needing points in La Liga against a solid Alavés team. This should be a fun game, and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action. LET’S LIVE BLOG!!!
(Note: the comments will be open only when the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section)
MATCH INFO
Competition/Round: 2020-21 La Liga, Matchday 8
Date/Time: Saturday, October 31, 2020, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 4pm ET, 1pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Sunday)
Venue: Estadio de Mendizorrotza, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country, Spain
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández
VAR: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva
HOW TO WATCH, STREAM LA LIGA
How to watch on TV: beIN SPORTS (USA & Canada), LaLigaTV (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar LaLiga (Spain), Not Available (India), others
How to stream: FuboTV (USA), Premier Player (UK), Facebook Live (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Matchday Thread Rules
We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:
Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, no swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do it will be warned, and those who post links will be instantly banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another.
Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!