Barcelona 2-1 Leganes: La Liga Side Fielded Historic Line Up Against Leganes
REUTERS/Albert Gea
For the first time in 118 years and 4,250-matches, the Catalan club FC Barcelona fielded a line-up with just one Spanish player in it.
The Blaugrana club welcomed Leganes in the 23rd week of the competition and managed the narrowest of win with Lionel Messi scoring a brace to rescue the club. Lionel Messi gave his club a well-deserved lead in the 4th minute, but since then, they were unable to find the net.
Their misery was further punished when Leganes’ 21-year-old midfielder Unai Lopez slotted home a well-worked goal. Just when everyone though that the points will be shared, Mantovani fouled Neymar in the box and Messi was spot on to restore the advantage.
The game did finish 2-1 in favour of the Catalonians, but for the first time in many years, they were on the pitch with just one Spanish player, in Sergi Roberto, to be named in the starting line-up.
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An all French defensive setup was named with Umtiti and Mathieu securing the central defensive berth, while the former AS Roma man Lucas Digne replaced Jordi Alba.
In the central midfield, Enrique found it hard to replace the never tiring legs of Sergio Busquets and the mastermind of Andres Iniesta, hence Andre Gomes, Ivan Rakitic and Rafinha were named to replace the two Spanish veterans. And as usual, the attack was all South-American with MSN leading the line.
But certainly, this was not it for the Catalan club, as, according to Marca, The Camp Nou stadium observed the lowest attendance of the season with just 36,368 spectators watching the game. This tally overtook the number of 58,560 when Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey clash by a thumping scoreline of 5-2 back in January 27.