On a cold night in Pamplona, when the pitch was frozen and the bitter wind blew violently, FC Barcelona dropped even more points in La Liga away against CA Osasuna. Whether it be the weather, the unfamiliar stadium and fans, or the fairly poor performance by the players, the team’s excuses are piling high. Soon, even those will not be enough to rescue the league title.

Head coach Pep Guardiola decided to experiment with his lineup. It is not sure why he decided to rest so many starters and fill in with B team players. One could argue that some players needed rest after the midweek Copa del Rey win and before the Champions League quarterfinals in a few days. Whatever the reason, Valdés, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Abidal, Mascherano, Thiago, Sergi Roberto, Alexis, Messi, and Pedro began the game.

The situation for Barcelona went from miserable to almost unbearable in just four minutes. Puyol turned the ball over to Raul Garcia who In turn passed it off to Lekic. Lekic went to goal and scored against a helpless Valdés. In Barcelona’s defense, the team did rally and score a goal of its own in the 9th minute. Unfortunately, Alexis’ goal from Thiago’s assist was ruled wrongly offside and disallowed. Just a minute later, Messi made a curling shot that Osasuna goalkeeper Fernandez was able to tip out of his net.

The first yellow card of the match was given to Sergi Roberto in the 15th minute after a challenge on Nino. Barcelona’s frustration after the missed chances was clearly beginning to show. The players’ feelings would only increase in the 22nd minute when Lekic scored yet another goal. Cejudo gave the cross into the box that Lekic was able to get on the end of and tap into the net.

Messi attempted another shot after a great Alexis’ assist in the 27th minute but continued his bad luck with goalkeepers as Fernandez saved again. The 36th minute saw Alexis receive a yellow card for kicking the ball away after the whistle.

Barcelona tried to pull a goal back as the last minutes of the first half wound down, but were unable to create many chances or capitalize on them. A rousing halftime lecture by Guardiola was sure to be heard in the blaugrana locker room.

The second half’s first action was Barcelona’s first two substitutions. Cuenca and Tello replaced Pedro and Puyol, respectively. The substitutes seemed to do some good, as in the 52nd minute, Alexis scored.  Cuenca crossed in the assist to the far post that Alexis knocked into the net. With the score line now 2-1, the chances of a comeback seemed much more likely.

The feeling of confidence did not last long, however, as Raul Garcia earned his goal just four minutes later. Osasuna won the ball back and Nino passed back to Raul Garcia, who hit the ball into the net off the near post. A minute later, Alves was booked with a yellow card and will miss next weekend’s Valencia game on suspension.

The goal scorer Raul Garcia was shown a yellow card in the 61st minute for bringing down Thiago. One minute more, and Alexis’ wicked header sailed over the crossbar, denying Barcelona to cut the lead to one. The 70th minute gave Puñal a yellow card. Barcelona needed to emphasis its attack, and did this by switching two of the moc-moc trio. Piqué came off for Cesc, and Osasuna also subbed off goal scorer Lekic for Ibrahima.

The amazing young winger, Tello, was the one to convert Barcelona’s second goal in the 73rd minute. Without much help from his teammates after Cesc passed him the ball, Tello made a cutting run into the box and aimed for the top-right corner of the goal with his left foot, sinking the strike past Fernandez.

Barcelona controlled much of the possession throughout the match, and now just one goal away from the equalizer, the team tried to make its most amazing comeback this season. Osasuna, for its part, was not ready to let the Catalans come back. In the 77th minute, Puñal crashed a shot off the left post, denying his team another goal.

The 79th minute saw Osasuna make another substitution with Nino changing with Toribio. Just two minutes later, Tello had another chance on goal but Fernandez was able to stretch and push the ball out. Luck was not in Barcelona’s favor as Alexis again had the ball in the back of the net after a chipped assist from Messi, but it was likewise called unfairly offside and disallowed in the 81st minute.

Valdes earned a yellow card in the 85th minute for dissenting Osasuna’s timewasting tactics. Three minutes later, Osasuna made its last substitution as another goal scorer, Raul Garcia, made way for Damia. In the first of five minutes of stoppage time, Mascherano joined his teammates in the referee’s book.

Although the last minutes were fought valiantly, Barcelona still failed to break down the Osasuna defense enough to salvage a point. This means that if Real Madrid CF wins tomorrow against Levante, then Barcelona will officially be ten points off of first place in La Liga.

There is no way to sugar coat it, ten points would be a huge gap. Believing in this team is always necessary, but today was a bad game with many defensive errors and a continued lack of creativity. If any team can bridge a ten point gap and win the league, it is Barcelona, but there is no doubt that it will be an uphill battle.  However, everyone should read the article posted previously today, “On being a fan,” and realize that our reaction should reflect the kind of fans that we are.

Image Source: AP Photo