Catalan giants FC Barcelona registered a comfortable 2-0 win in their latest match against Almeria in La Liga.
Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong scored for the hosts to gather another valuable three points in the Spanish league.
Coming into the match, long-serving Barcelona defender Gerard Pique announced this would be his final match at Camp Nou. So Barcelona wanted to make this match special for one of the best defenders in their history.
Xavi started with his typical 4-3-3 setup. Marc-Andre ter Stegen started under the bar. Alejandro Balde, Gerard Pique, Marcos Alonso and Jordi played formed the four-man defense. Pedri, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong were the three midfielders. Ousmane Dembele and Ferran Torres started on the wings while Robert Lewandowski played as the striker.
Barcelona Defender Played His Final Match at Camp Nou
The Catalan giants had a great starter to the match. Just in the sixth minute of the game, they got a penalty after a long VAR check. However, their talismanic striker Robert Lewandowski failed to convert the chance.
Barcelona then kept on their huge pressure and created a lot of chances from where they could have scored. But the Catalan giants failed to take any of them as we entered halftime with the deadlock yet to be broken.
Finally, after the restart, Barcelona managed to take the lead through their French winger Ousmane Dembele. The French winger received a long ball from Busquets before cutting inside and slotting it past Almeria goalkeeper Fernando Martinez.
The Catalan giants then doubled their lead in the 62nd minute. Alba’s brilliant cross found Ansu Fati in the box. The forward’s first-time effort however was straight at Martinez who kept it out from going in. But the rebound fell to Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong. The Dutchman did no mistake and volleyed the ball in the back of the net.
Soon after that Ansu Fati defeated Martinez and put the ball in the net. But the goal was not counted as Fati stayed offside during the build-up. The Spaniard then had another chance to score but once again Almeria’s keeper got the better of him.
In the 83rd minute of the match, Andreas Christensen replaced Gerard Pique at the back. The defender was given a standing ovation by 92605 Barcelona fans who attended the game. An emotional Pique left the field after passing the armband to Jordi Alba.
Barcelona failed to score any more goals as the match ended in a 2-0 win for the Catalan giants. After the match, Barcelona have reached the top of the table with 34 points from 13 matches. They will face Osasuna at the last match before the World Cup break.
Meanwhile, Almeria will stay at the fifteenth place on the table. They now have thirteen points from thirteen matches. Almeria will face Getafe in their next match.
