Barcelona held to a draw by Granada

Ronald Koeman's future at FC Barcelona has been much debated after the defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and tonight he should try to get the team back on track when they were visited by weak Granada at the Camp Nou.

However, less than two minutes had to pass before a shock went through the stadium. The home team did not get a corner kick properly, and after a couple of good moves, Sergio Escudero sent a perfect cross to the back post, where midfielder Domingos Duarte was able to head Granada in front completely free with 1-0.

A quarter of an hour later, Barcelona were a few inches from getting equalized when Sergio Roberto played one-two with an opponent after a corner kick and subsequently sent a finish on the crossbar.

The Granada players did everything they could to pull the tempo out of the match, and that meant we got a first half that was marked by a lot of stoppages, where time was dragged on for as long as it could. They had good success with that plan, but a few seconds before the break it was about to go wrong for the guests in two rounds.

Ronald Araujo unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. On the ensuing corner kick, Araujo came again at the top, but close to goal, the midfielder failed to control his header within the goal frame.

Barcelona therefore had to go to the break down with 1-0.

The home team had to go out and chase, and Koeman took the consequence of this during the break when he sent Luuk de Jong on the field to add something else to the team on the offensive. Barcelona also started to put themselves heavily on the game, but they had a really hard time playing their way through the low-lying Granada defensive line.

Barcelona played and played, but they could not come up with the big chances. In return, they should get a huge chance at a corner kick. Here Luuk de Jong got a golden opportunity a few meters from goal, but the Dutch striker managed to send his header over goal.

A minute before time, however, they finally got a hole in the boil, and of course the goal came from Araujo, who had been the home team's most dangerous man. The midfielder had taken the trip up the field and he timed his inlet to perfection on a post and finished the job with a header from close range.

It was also the last goal of the match and Barcelona had to settle for a single point against Granada.