Erring Pique saves Barca’s blushes in Catalan derby
BARCELONA: American fans will be licking their lips if this is what awaits Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium in January after Barcelona and Girona played out an enthralling 2-2 draw at the Camp Nou on Sunday.
There were four goals, one for Lionel Messi and two for Girona’s Cristhian Stuani, not to mention a controversial red card shown to Barca defender Clement Lenglet.
Gerard Pique salvaged a point for the hosts to complete his own blockbuster night, after clearing one shot off the line and making mistakes for each of Girona’s goals.
By the end, Barca had surrendered their perfect record in La Liga, as well as a two-point advantage over Real Madrid. They return to the top of the table, but only on goal difference. Girona move up to sixth.
“For us, this is a triumph,” Stuani said. “Coming here and getting this result is so valuable for us.”
Hanging over this game was always the wider prospect of it not being returned, given La Liga’s desire to move the reverse fixture at Girona’s Estadi Montilivi on Jan 26 to the United States.
For all the opposition, however, there was a noticeable lack of complaint at the Camp Nou, where there were chants for Catalan independence but precious little in opposition to a trip to Miami.
A point may not be viewed as a bad return either for Barca, having played through the best part of an hour with 10 men, but changes made by coach Ernesto Valverde failed to hit the mark.
Lenglet came in for Samuel Umititi, presumably to bed in next to Pique, given Umtiti is suspended for Barcelona’s Champions League game against Tottenham later this month.
But he was, perhaps harshly, sent off in the 35th minute with Barca one up, and they then conceded before Umtiti came on at half-time. Arthur and Arturo Vidal — also brought in — were substituted before the hour. “When we got the red card, our intention was to make a change but we had to let him [Umtiti] warm-up,” Valverde said. “It looks like an error on my part.”