The Blaugranas folded on the return from the locker room on a goal from Lucas Perez (47th) after two parades from Marc-André ter Stegen in front of Ruben Sobrino, under the eyes of Clément Lenglet, inert, thus conceding their first defeat in La Liga for four months.

This setback comes four days after their elimination from the Europa League in the quarter-finals against Eintracht Frankfurt in incredible conditions.

This second rout in a row worries, just before the final sprint of the season.

Barça had not lost in the league since December 4 against Betis Sevilla at Camp Nou (2-1).

Since then, Xavi's men have been on an unbeaten streak of fifteen La Liga matches (four draws and eleven wins), and have won their last seven league games.

Without Pique

But their series ended on Monday, against the yellow rock of Cadiz, which carried out an excellent operation by leaving the red zone (sixteenth, two points in front of the first relegated, Mallorca).

FC Barcelona's French winger Ousmane Dembélé escapes Cadiz midfielder Jens Jonsson during the La Liga matchday 32 match between the two teams on Monday April 18, 2022 at Camp Nou, Barcelona LLUIS GENE AFP

In the absence of Pique, injured and caught in the turmoil of revelations concerning the commissions received by his company Kosmos in the context of the organization of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, the Catalan defensive block has found it difficult to control former Arsenal striker Lucas Perez, who had more than one chance to double the lead.

And in front, the only man who brought offensive animation on the Blaugrana side was Ousmane Dembélé.

The French winger was in all the right moves, and was even very close to equalizing on a long dry strike in the 68th, which forced the Argentinian goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma to intervene.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was very close to equalizing in the 89th minute, but he also got on Ledesma.

Busquets joins Iniesta

Despite the defeat, however, this match marked an additional peak in the career of Blaugrana captain Sergio Busquets: the midfielder played his 674th match in a Barça jersey on Monday, joining legend Andrés Iniesta.

However, he remains far from the first two, which are the current coach Xavi with 767 matches, and Lionel Messi, with 778 matches.

FC Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets warming up before the match of the 32nd day of La Liga against Cadiz, Monday April 18, 2022 at Camp Nou, in Barcelona LLUIS GENE AFP

But the Blaugrana emblem has reached this trio far from its dearest supporters: the Catalan ultras had decided to boycott the match against Cadiz to protest against the club's mismanagement of the ticket office against Eintracht Frankfurt, where more than 30,000 supporters Germans had seen their team eliminate the great Barça.

At the end of the 32nd day, there are therefore three teams tied on the second step of La Liga with 60 points: Sevilla FC, FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid are all fifteen points behind Real Madrid, to whom the coronation seems promised...

This trio only has a three-point lead ahead of Betis Sevilla, who dream of coming and playing spoilsports in the top 4 and grabbing a qualifying spot for the Champions League.

FC Barcelona will however have two chances to distance themselves this week, first on the field of Real Sociedad on Thursday for an intercalated 33rd day, then on Sunday at Camp Nou against Rayo Vallecano, during a late match of the 21st. daytime.

© 2022 AFP