Barcelona stumbled into Spain’s title race with a 1-1 draw against rivals Espanyol in a scrappy Catalan derby on Saturday, leveling Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Xavi’s men threw away the two-point advantage they had gained before the World Cup break, with Joselu’s penalty pulling Barcelona back after Marcos Alonso’s opener.
Both teams finished with 10 men as Jordi Alba and Vinicius Souza were sent off, with referee Mateu Lahoz letting the game spiral out of control at Camp Nou.
“The draw is our fault, we can talk about the referee and so on, but it’s our fault,” Xavi said.
“I think Mateu is a referee who controls the game, but today he was out of control, he was out of control.”
“(But) I don’t blame anything, it’s our fault. We reduce the intensity.
The teams clashed before the ball was kicked as Barcelona started Robert Lewandowski, who had been banned before the final court decision allowing him to play.
The striker, having missed three league matches, was only allowed to feature because of the controversial decision announced on Friday, suspending his punishment.
This angered Espanyol, whose president and director boycotted the match, while Barca coach Xavi admitted his team had been preparing all week for the absence of the division’s top scorer.
The Spanish football federation said in a statement on Saturday that it could not reject the court’s decision.
- fire derby –
Lewandowski wasn’t at his best, but Barcelona took the lead after just seven minutes with Alonso making the most of Espanyol’s lackluster defending to head home.
The former Chelsea defender, deployed as a centre-back, should have doubled the lead but sent Alba’s cross in from point-blank range.
Espanyol’s only chance in the first half came when Nico Melamed had a shot deflected at Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s far post, with the hosts looking comfortable.
“We want to leave with a win, leave as leaders,” said Sergi Roberto.
“We had a very good first half, we didn’t aim to kill the game. In the second half there were a lot of cards, sent and the game stopped a lot.
Barcelona disappeared after the break with winger Ansu Fati and Raphinha struggling to create any danger.
The visitors, 16th, did not threaten either, but won a penalty after Alonso tangled with Joselu in the area, and the striker was sent into the middle.
Lahoz, collecting the order, sent Alba for two in quick succession, before dismissing Souza, for a foul, and Leandro Cabrera for a clash with Lewandowski seconds later.
But he overturned the dismissal after looking at the incident again with VAR, and Barcelona were unable to find a winner in nine minutes of added time.
Xavi also received a booking from Lahoz for complaining from the sidelines, and the official left the stadium to jeers and whistles from the fans.
“This game is very difficult for the referee, the important thing is the result,” said Joselu.
“There are a lot of distractions because there are a lot of mistakes, but we have to make sure we play our game.”
Barcelona and Real Madrid, who beat Real Valladolid on Friday, both have 38 points from 15 games, leaving the title race neck and neck ahead of the new year.