Goals from Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski could not prevent Barcelona’s failure as Granada stunned the stadium, as the 18th-placed away scored three goals via Ricard Sanchez, Pellistri and Ignasi Miguel to secure a 3-3 draw on Sunday.
Yamal opened the scoring after 15 minutes with a close-range finish after making a smart run to the back post to meet a cross from inside the box.
But just before half-time the Spanish giants were pegged back as a seemingly harmless cross by Pellistri was smartly redirected to the near post and into the net on 43 minutes by Sanchez.
Then came a crazy few minutes in the game. Firstly, Pellistri scored his first LaLiga goal in the 60th minute to tap home the ball from deep into the six-yard box to give his side the lead.
But then in the 63rd minute, Barcelona were level again after Lewandowski found space on the edge of the box and the veteran Pole fired low past the on-rushing goalkeeper.
However, the game turned once again as Miguel, in the 66th minute, rose high to head a bullet header into the net that left the Catalans’ defenders stood shellshocked at their temporary home turf.
Yamal got his second of the game from the goal line after a header across the box was insufficiently dealt with by the Granada goalkeeper and Barcelona were level again in the 78th minute.
Lamine Yamal, right, celebrates scoring his side’s third goalAP
Despite the disappointment, Yamal stars in the victory
The result means that Barcelona fail to gain any ground on Girona and they now sit five points behind them and 11 points off the top.
But Yamal, the prodigious 16-year-old winger, produced a brace at the Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys on Sunday night to bring his LaLiga stats for the season to three goals and two assists in 1256 minutes.
By doing so, he send a message to critics that he is the real deal. Tipped as Lionel Messi’s replacement, he’s in great form and that praise will only get stronger.
