Hansi Flick-led Barcelona failed to return to winning ways tonight after letting their lead slip late in dramatic fashion in a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo. Raphinha 15', Lewandowski 61'; González 84', Álvarez 86' Captain for the night Raphinha set Barça off and running on the night in the 15th minute after Jules Koundé’s ball over the top found the Brazilian, who danced around Óscar Mingueza before sliding past Vicente Guaita for his 8th league goal of the season. Celta were certainly up for the fight despite going down a goal, however, with the Galician side threatening Barcelona on the counter, and probably should have done better with a handful of half-chances they created.
This particularly held true in the 39th minute when Jonathan Bamba got the better of Koundé before attempting to pick out the run of Anastasios Douvikas, but could only fluff his squared ball, which Barça calmly dealt with. Home supporters at the Estadio Abanca Balaídos were left shocked that Celta did not go up a man on the stroke of halftime after Gerard Martin looked to have brought down local hero Iago Aspas while already being on a yellow, but it would be an incandescent Aspas that went into the book instead. Smartly, Flick replaced Martin with Héctor Fort to begin the second half as Celta continued to push for an equalizer on the break, with their xG outstripping that of the visitors despite Barcelona’s regular possession dominance.
It would appear to be all for nothing though whe.
