Barcelona’s quest for 100 points in La Liga came to an end on Wednesday night as the champions suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Deportivo Alaves at Mendizorrotza.
A heavily-rotated Barcelona side featuring several reserves struggled to find any rhythm in attack and produced a flat performance in the Basque Country, just days after securing the title with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid in El Clasico.
As expected, the visitors dominated possession throughout the opening stages but created very little of note despite controlling most of the ball.
Marcus Rashford provided Barcelona’s only real threat in the first half with a couple of half-chances that failed to seriously trouble the Alavés goalkeeper.
Alaves, meanwhile, played with far greater urgency as they searched for valuable points in their fight against relegation.
The hosts looked dangerous from set pieces and direct balls into the box, and their pressure eventually paid off just before half-time.
Following a corner deep into first-half stoppage time, Ibrahim Diabate reacted quickest during a scramble inside the area to bundle the ball home and give Alavés a deserved lead at the break.
The second half followed a similar pattern with Barcelona seeing plenty of possession but showing almost no creativity or cutting edge in the final third.
Alaves stayed compact and disciplined defensively while the game became increasingly scrappy with several fouls, bookings and very little overall quality from either side.
The final whistle handed Alaves a massive victory in their battle against relegation, while Hansi Flick’s side saw their hopes of reaching the 100-point mark disappear despite another encouraging display from 21-year-old Álvaro Cortés at centre-back.
