Newly-crowned Spanish champions Barcelona suffered a 1-0 defeat by Alaves on Wednesday, ending their bid to match the all-time La Liga record points total of 100.
Hansi Flick’s side needed to win their remaining three matches to reach that figure but fell at the first hurdle in Vitoria.
Ibrahim Diabate’s goal in first half stoppage time earned Alaves a vital victory in their battle against relegation, taking Quique Sanchez Flores’s team out of the drop zone and up to 15th.
“It was not an easy game, they (battled) in a hard way, but it’s OK because they are fighting to stay in La Liga and this is normal,” Flick told reporters.
“We let in the goal in the last minute of the first half… but for me it’s more the positives (I’ll take), the young players who played today and managing the minutes (for the others).”
Flick gave 21-year-old centre-back Alvaro Cortes his debut, among several changes to the side that won the Clasico on Sunday to clinch back-to-back league titles.
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The Catalans celebrated winning La Liga on Monday with an open-top bus parade and their performance reflected that to some extent.
Barca had plenty of the ball and winger Marcus Rashford offered energy, but Alaves dug deep to keep the visitors at arm’s length.
Just before the break Diabate fired past Wojciech Szczesny, after Antonio Blanco headed a corner back towards goal, with Barca defenders not reacting quickly.
Szczesny pushed away a Diabate strike early in the second half as Alaves tried to double their lead.
Barca struggled to create any clear chances and the hosts came close through Jon Guridi, who beat Szczesny but struck the post with a drive across goal.
Earlier, Sevilla produced a sensational comeback from two goals down to beat Villarreal 3-2 and climb towards safety.
The Andalusian side have been struggling towards the bottom in recent months but secured their third consecutive victory to rise up to 10th provisionally, four points clear of the drop zone.
Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze fired hosts Villarreal, third, into a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes.
However Oso and Kike Salas pulled Sevilla level before the break and Akor Adams struck in the 72nd minute to seal Sevilla’s win, in a week where their former defender Sergio Ramos is reported to be close to completing a takeover of the club alongside an investment firm.
“It’s an indescribable feeling, giving back to the fans all the love they give us,” said Sevilla defender Salas.
