Barcelona's impressive 53-year record ended with forgotten Premier League stars as Las Palmas ruin Lamine Yamal's return
A host of former Premier League stars ended Barcelona's 53-year record on Saturday with a shock 2-1 victory for Las Palmas.
spanish giants Barça welcomed the long-awaited return of its superstar prospect Lamina Yamal after his ankle injury, but it was not the return that he and his teammates wanted.
He Euro 2024 Boss Hansi Flick only passed on the star fit enough for the bench, and his lack of firepower showed as The Palms The race for the LaLiga title surprised.
On top of that, Barça had not lost at home to Las Palmas in over half a century, and that streak has now come to an end.
It was their first home defeat to their opponents in 53 years, and there were some familiar faces from fans in England who got the job done.
Former Everton player Sandro Ramírez opened the scoring for the visitors early in the second half with a shot into the bottom corner on the edge of the area.
The forward previously made 16 appearances for the Toffees, scoring just one goal during his three years at Goodison Park.
Ramírez's last goal is the third of his career against Barcelona but Las Palmas' advantage lasted just a few minutes.
Another former Premier League star, raffinHe equalized for the hosts with an equally impressive finish from outside the area that increased the former Leeds striker's goal total for the season to 14.
However, Barcelona failed to keep the score level, conceding just six minutes later.
This time it was Wolves loanee Fabio Silva who found the net with a brilliant finish, finding himself in the path of an expertly guided ball from Javier Muñoz before slotting past Barça's number 2, Jasper Cillessen.
The 22-year-old signed for his first division part of the parents for a club record fee reportedly worth £35 million.
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Silva was unable to make a real impact at the club following his departure from Porto (his record for Wolves is five goals and six assists in 72 games), but he has now scored five goals on loan for Las Palmas.
The Yellows maintained their lead and took all three points thanks to their energetic team, which included other Premier League names you would have heard before.
Centre-back Scott McKenna played 25 games in the English top flight during Nottingham Forestalthough he left for Spain in August.
Substitute Oli McBurnie played 96 Premier League games between Swansea City and Sheffield United.
Former manchester united Star Adnan Januzaj was also part of the traveling team, but did not appear from the bench.
Barcelona remains leader of the LaLiga standings, but its advantage has been reduced to four points ahead of the real Madridwho have two less games.
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They have now gone three league games without a win, although they would have liked to see Yamal return to the field.
He missed three games during his time on the sidelines, having scored six and assisted a further eight before his injury.
Yamal replaced Pablo Torre in the second half against Las Palmas but could not demonstrate his quality in front of goal.
Raphinha, on the other hand, was and probably will be the only positive that Barcelona can take from their weekend defeat.
The former Leeds star has been in impressive form this season with 23 goals in all competitions.
His goal this Saturday was his ninth in LaLiga this season and adds to his six assists.
Raphinha's combined efforts mean he has become only the second player to amass 15 or more contributions in the league this season with his teammate. Robert Lewandowski.
