BARCELONA, Oct 31: New coach, similar disappointment for Barcelona.
Barcelona was held to a 1-1 draw at home by lowly Alavés in the debut of caretaker coach Sergi Barjuan, while Real Madrid and Sevilla both won on Saturday to leave the Catalan club even further behind in the Spanish league.
Vinícius Júnior took over the scoring duties from Karim Benzema by netting twice in Madrid’s 2-1 win at 10-man Elche. Madrid, Sevilla and Real Sociedad are at the top of the standings.
Barcelona was left in ninth and eight points adrift after four wins in 10 games.
Barjuan, a former Barcelona player who until Thursday was its reserve team coach, did not waver from the lineup and 4-3-3 formation used by Ronald Koeman, who was fired this week after one too many defeats.
Memphis Depay gave Barcelona the lead with a wonderful strike from outside the area in the 49th minute, only for Luis Rioja to dribble through the center of the hosts’ painfully passive defense and equalize three minutes later.
Rioja dribbled past three Barcelona players before a quick passing combination with Joselu Mato fooled Gerard Pique and left Rioja alone to round Marc-Andre ter Stegen and roll the ball home.
But Barcelona’s injury list likely grew after Pique limped off in the second half after Sergio Agüero had to leave after feeling dizzy, according to Barjuan.
The Argentine had to be substituted in the 41st after he motioned to the top of his chest and throat. After spending a minute stretched on the turf, he was able to walk off. The club said that Agüero was taken to the hospital for “cardiological tests” after being bothered by his chest.
Meanwhile, 21-year-old Vinícius showed his much-improved finishing for Madrid. The double took his tally in all competitions to nine in 14 appearances this season, compared to six goals in 47 outings in 2020-21.
Mariano Díaz played his first minutes of the season in Benzema’s place. The rarely used striker showed his reflexes were still sharp when he used his heel to knock a pass from Casemiro into the path of Vinícius for him to fire under Kiko Casilla in the 22nd.
Elche was pressing for an equalizer when Raúl Guti made a dangerous tackle on Toni Kroos and was sent off in the 63rd. Vinícius finished Elche off 10 minutes later when he chipped the ball over Casilla from a tight angle after Luka Modric played him clear with one touch.
Elche substitute Pere Milla pulled one back with four minutes to play, but it was not enough to keep his side unbeaten at home this campaign. (AP)
