Barcelona lost after winning all 7 first rounds due to coach Hansi Flick’s confusing decision to use all young players in the away match at Estadio El Sadar.
Barcelona have no reason to leave their key players on the bench, even though they will host Young Boys in the second round of the Champions League group stage next week.
Losing their advantage, Barcelona ended their 7-match winning streak since the beginning of the season in La Liga in a shocking way for the whole tournament.
Robert Lewandowski carries the entire “teenage” Barcelona team
The home team entered the match with confidence and played fairly against Barcelona, who were, in theory, rated much higher than them. In the 18th minute, Bryan Zaragoza crossed the ball into the middle for Ante Budimir to cut in and then dive to head the ball into Barcelona’s net, opening the score.
Ante Budimir opened the scoring after a brilliant Osasuna counter-attack
The early goal, however, did not wake Barcelona up. Ten minutes later, Pablo Ibanez won the ball in his own half and sent a perfectly weighted long pass to Bryan Zaragoza, who sprinted away and leisurely shot past goalkeeper Inaki Pena.
Up until now, people have just realized that rookie Wojciech Szczęsny has not been registered for this match even though the Spanish media has mentioned it a lot over the past week.
Bryan Zaragoza contributed to two goals for home team Osasuna
It was not until after the break that Barcelona regained control of the game. Taking advantage of a mistake by goalkeeper Sergio Herrera, Pau Victor easily scored to reduce the score to 1-2 in the 58th minute.
Busy pushing up their attacking formation, Barcelona left gaps behind and Osasuna did not miss these opportunities.
In the 72nd minute, Ante Budimir brought the home team a penalty and he completed his double with a neat shot from the 11m mark.
Barcelona’s disastrous performance led to the third goal
The bad situation has not left Barcelona. In the 85th minute, Bretones won the ball from Lamine Yamal and immediately fired an unstoppable shot from outside the penalty area. 4-1 for Osasuna in the astonishment of all parties involved.
Yamal made amends with a goal from the same position four minutes later but it was too late for Barcelona’s much-needed comeback.
Abel Bretones “punishes” Lamine Yamal’s mistake
Losing 2-4 at Osasuna’s field, Barcelona still kept the top position but seemed to feel the hot breath of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid on their necks.