BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona lost at home for the first time this season when the Spanish league leader was stunned 2-1 by Las Palmas on Saturday.
Barcelona had played superbly in the first three months under new coach Hansi Flick and was flying high after convincing victories over Real Madrid in the domestic competition and Bayern Munich in the Champions League. It had won all eight home games overall.
But it has now gone three rounds of La Liga without a win. Prior to the loss to Las Palmas, it fell 1-0 at Real Sociedad and drew 2-2 at Celta Vigo.
Madrid, despite its own troubles especially in the Champions League, can now move ahead of Barcelona in the Spanish league. It trails Barcelona by four points with two games more to play.
Sandro Ramirez and Fábio Silva scored for the Canary Islands club on either side of Raphina’s equalizer.
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal returned from a right ankle injury that had sidelined with for three weeks as a halftime substitute, but Jasper Cillessen saved his best shot. The Las Palmas goalkeeper also did well to palm a Raphinha free kick over his bar in the final minutes.
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