Hansi Flisk's Barcelona Lose Grip On La Liga Top Spot To Las Palmas' Stunner

Barcelona suffered a shocking 2-1 defeat to Las Palmas, with Raphinha's heroic equaliser counting for nothing as Hansi Flick's side lost their grip on the La Liga top spot. 

The Catalan side have only taken just one point from their last three La Liga matches and that gives Real Madrid a big helping hand in the title race.

Las Palmas had from the start shown their resilience by putting Barcelona's back-line to work, squandering their early opportunities. The hosts soon took hold of the game, but Flick's side were lacking the cutting edge technical advantage, barely managing to work the ball into dangerous spaces but seemingly too cumbersome to to make anything out of.

Raphinha was Barcelona's biggest threat, picked the perfect spot to send the ball into the bottom corner. of the net. Robert Lewandowski had no space to work with and tried his best to link up but mostly gave the ball away. Gavi won the ball on a few occasions and had some decent passes but went off early in the second half. Pedri's excellent movement through the middle found Raphinha for the equaliser.

Having to lose to Las Palmas was a shocking result, making Raphinha's effort to inspire a comeback count for nothing as Hansi Flick's side conceded a much-needed game to keep ahead of the league to Palmas. It was quite unlike Barvelona. 

The Catalan side's struggles at the front were evident, with Robert Lewandowski unable to find space to work with. With Real Madrid closing the gap to the summit, Barcelona will need to regroup and refocus if they are to maintain their title challenge.