Alaves out of relegation zone with crucial win as 100-point dream ends for Barcelona

Alaves out of relegation zone with crucial win as 100-point dream ends for Barcelona Alaves 1-0 Barcelona Barcelona have lost their first match since becoming La Liga champions, with Alaves keeping the three points at Mendizorroza after a narrow win. On the back of wrapping up the title on Sunday, Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick gave opportunities to a number of players that have not played much in recent weeks, including Wojciech Szczesny, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casado and Marc Bernal, while Alvaro Cortes made his debut in the centre of defence alongside Pau Cubarsi. But noticeably, the Catalans were nowhere near their best given the raft of changes, which was to be expected.

Neither side created much in the way of clear chances in the first half, which was devoid of much quality. But in the one and only minute of stoppage time before the interval, Alaves got their noses in front after an excellent close-range volley from Ibrahim Diabate, the 26-year-old Ivorian striker on loan from Swedish club GAIS. That goal gave Alaves something to hang on to, and in the second half, they simply sat deep and looked to make sure that Barcelona could not break them down – and it worked perfectly, as Barcelona managed only two shots at goal, both of which came from long-range efforts by Dani Olmo and Marc Bernal.

100-point dream slips away for Barcelona A victory at Mendizorroza was always going to be difficult for Barcelona, given that motivation would have been low after already wrapping up the La Liga title at the weekend. Nevertheless, that does not take away from a fantastic victory for Alaves, who are up to 15th and now one point clear of the relegation zone with two matches left to play. Alaves travel to already-relegated Real Oviedo at the weekend, and a victory there could see them cement their place in La Liga for another season.

As for Barcelona, they host Real Betis next.