Barcelona suffered their second league defeat of the season at the hands of newly-promoted Granada on Saturday night. The Andalusians' inspired performance stood in stark contrast to that of Ernesto Valverde's side, whose defensive frailties and lack of creativity going forward would ultimately cost them the match.
Ramón Azeez opened the scoring in under two minutes after some careless Barça defending, and Álvaro Vadillo's second half penalty capped off an excellent display from the La Liga newcomers. The Nazaríes now sit top of the table with 10 points, ahead of Sevilla, having played one game more.
Although dominant in possession throughout the game, the visitors failed to recover after going behind so early on. Even the introduction of Lionel Messi at half time was not enough to reverse Barça's fortunes on a frustrating night at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes.
Valverde chose not to give Messi his first La Liga start of the season, opting instead for a front three of Antoine Griezmann, Luis Suárez and Carles Pérez. Sergio Busquets, Arthur and Ansu Fati were also left on the bench, and Ivan Rakitić earned a start on the left side of midfield.
The injured Jordi Alba was replaced at left back by Dominican-born Junior Firpo, whose unfortunate slip in the opening stages was to set the tone of the match for the Catalans. Seemingly caught in two minds, Firpo lost the ball to Roberto Soldado, who in turn let Antonio Puertas in on the right hand side. The resulting cross took a heavy deflection off the legs of Gerard Piqué, looping over the head of Ter Stegen and into the path of Azeez, who came racing in at the back post to nod Granada into a 1-0 lead.
The hosts explosive start to the game had Barcelona rattled, and they continued to pile the pressure on. Puertas looked particularly dangerous, forcing Stegen to dive low to his left on 13 minutes to prevent a second goal for the Andalusians.
Meanwhile, Griezmann and Pérez had hardly seen any of the ball, and Luis Suárez was similarly subdued. Even when Yangel Herrera gifted the ball to Suárez deep inside the Granada half on 32 minutes, the Uruguayan was unable to capitalise.
Valverde sought to inject some much needed energy into his side at half time, and Firpo and Pérez were replaced by Fati and Messi. However, Barça started the second half almost exactly as they had ended the first. Ter Stegen very nearly fumbled the ball into his own net on 52 minutes, and the visitors were looking increasingly nervy.
Arturo Vidal was brought on after 60 minutes, presumably to bring some organisation to the Barça midfield, who by now were struggling to gain control of the game. However, minutes after coming on, a ball into the area clearly struck the substitute on the arm, and the referee pointed to the spot following a quick consultation with VAR.
Álvaro Vadillo steered the ball past Ter Stegen to send Granada into a 2-0 lead, which was by this stage unassailable given the chronic lack of creativity in the Barcelona attack. The champions did little to threaten Diego Martínez's team for what remained of the match, and walked off the pitch at full time looking fairly dejected.
Barcelona's away record becoming a cause for concern
The Catalans remain without a win on the road, having lost the opening day fixture against Athletic Bilbao and only managing a draw against Osasuna. Barça's last victory away from home came against Alavés on matchday 34 of last season.
Granada stick to game plan, while Barça fail to make use of possession
Speaking to the press on Friday morning, Granada manager Diego Martínez was confident of his team's chances ahead of this clash. The home side made it difficult for their opponents from the first minute to the last, and fully deserved the three points.
As expected, Barcelona dominated possession, but were unable to create anything of value when it counted.
"We lacked precision in the final third. They tried to press us, we handled the pressure well and then it was a matter of adding the finishing touch, but that's where we went wrong." Ernesto Valverde told the press after Saturday's match. Many would argue that his team lacks more than just a finishing touch, given that this is the Catalans' worst La Liga start in 25 years.