Barcelona Vs Granada 1-2: Dominating 82 Percent Of Ball Possession, Blaugrana Throws Away Chances To The Top Of The Standings

JAKARTA - Barcelona threw away the opportunity to rise to the top of the Spanish League standings after being overthrown by Granada and swallowed a 1-2 defeat by their guest in the 33rd match at the Camp Nou Stadium on Thursday local time (Friday western Indonesia time).

As a result of the defeat, Barca stuck to third place with a collection of 71 points, two points behind leaders Atletico Madrid, while Granada (45) was ranked eighth, Antara reported according to the official Spanish League website.

The 1-2 result is clearly a heavy blow for Barcelona, considering that they can only convert the domination of 82 percent of ball possession into just one goal scored by Lionel Messi in the 23rd minute.

While Granada was able to grab two goals from Darwin Machis and Jorge Molina despite only releasing five attempted shots throughout the match.

Despite being in control from the start of the match, Barca had difficulty breaking through the solid defense shown by Granada until the hosts could only create opportunities in the 19th minute.

Antoine Griezmann fired a shot from outside the penalty box, but the ball can still be secured by goalkeeper Aaron Escandell.

Four minutes later, Ronald Koeman's team opened the scoring for Granada with a powerful shot from Messi completing Griezmann's pass.

Messi almost doubled Barca's lead in the 36th minute after escaping the offside trap to control Sergio Busquets' long ball, unfortunately, the Argentine captain's shot was countered by Escandell.

Escandell made another great save a minute later to stop Samul Umtiti's header from a corner.

Barcelona's dominance continued in the second half, unfortunately, Griezmann's opportunity to complete Ilaix Moriba's bait was still wide.

Instead, Granada managed to equalize in the 63rd minute when Oscar Mingueza made a mistake and Machis used it to beat goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The goal brought more confidence to Granada who was then able to turn things around in the 79th minute when Molina met Adrian Marin's cross with a gorgeous header.

Barcelona, who needs a goal to avoid defeat, lock in Granada. However, their efforts were fruitless until the match was complete.

The composition of players:

Barcelona (3-1-4-2): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Oscar Mingueza (Ousmane Dembele 73 '), Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti; Sergio Busquets; Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong, Ilaix Moriba (Pedri 73 '), Jordi Alba; Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann.

Granada (3-4-2-1): Aaron Escandell; Nehuen Perez, German Sanchez, Victor Diaz; Dimitri Foulquier, Yangel Herrera, Yan Eteki, Quini (Maxime Gonalons 61 '); Luis Suarez, Roberto Soldado (Jorge Molina 61 '), Darwin Machis (Adrian Marin 75')