Pro Sports

Struggling Barcelona held to draw again in Spanish league

Posted September 23, 2021 7:00 am

By TALES AZZONI

Barcelona's head coach Ronald Koeman watches play during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

MADRID (AP) - Barcelona's ongoing crisis keeps getting worse, with the team unable to win on the field and the club's players, coach and president growing increasingly at odds.

Barcelona was held to a 0-0 draw by CÃ¡diz in the Spanish league on Thursday, extending its winless streak to three matches and adding pressure on coach Ronald Koeman.

Koeman a day earlier surprisingly read from a prepared statement in the pre-match news conference and downplayed the team's chances of winning titles this season.

Players didn't hide the fact they were not on the same page.

'œI'm not wearing BarÃ§a's jersey to finish second or third,'ť veteran defender Gerard PiquÃ© said after the match. 'œI'm convinced that despite our bad start we will be contending at the end of the season.'ť

President Joan Laporta, who said he was caught by surprise by Koeman's statement ahead of the match, has been at odds recently with the coach who was hired by former president Josep Bartomeu.

'œWe have to be more united than ever,'ť Barcelona's Sergi Roberto said. 'œThe fans, the squad, the coach, the president ... we have to be united to overcome this situation. We are not going through a good moment but I'm convinced that we will overcome it.'ť

Barcelona, without Lionel Messi after nearly two decades, had to hold on in the end against CÃ¡diz after midfielder Frenkie de Jong was sent off with a second yellow card in the 65th minute. Koeman also was sent off for complaining to the referee in the final minutes.

'œI can't complain about the attitude of the players," Koeman said. 'œWe did everything possible. It was a complicated match.'ť

The draw left Barcelona in seventh place in the league standings, seven points behind leader Real Madrid with a game in hand. Madrid routed Mallorca 6-1 at the Santiago BernabÃ©u Stadium on Wednesday to stay two points ahead of defending champion AtlÃ©tico Madrid, which won 2-1 at Getafe on Tuesday.

'œWe are BarÃ§a and we still have a very good squad,'ť Roberto said. 'œWe have a team that can win this league and we will try to win it.'ť

Barcelona was coming off two consecutive setbacks at home - a 3-0 defeat against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and a 1-1 draw against Granada in the Spanish league, when it needed a 90th-minute equalizer to escape defeat.

CÃ¡diz nearly opened the scoring through Ãlvaro Negredo's shot from outside the area in the 46th, forcing Marc-AndrÃ© ter Stegen to make a difficult save by the top corner.

One of Barcelona's best chances was a low shot by Memphis Depay that was stopped by CÃ¡diz goalkeeper JeremÃas Ledesma a few minutes later. The Dutch striker missed an opportunity to score the winner deep into stoppage time when his shot from inside the area went wide in a one-on-one situation.

With an extra man, CÃ¡diz had most of the chances at the end but couldn't capitalize on them, with Ter Stegen making a few good saves.

De Jong was sent off after sliding in to try to steal the ball from an opponent.

Barcelona remains depleted by injuries and Koeman started the match with two teenagers - 17-year-old midfielder Gavi and 18-year-old forward Yusuf Demir.

CÃ¡diz hasn't won in its first four league matches at home this season and was coming off two straight losses at the Nuevo Mirandilla Stadium. It went winless in its first five home matches at home last season. It has only won victory so far this season.

CÃ¡diz defender Fali GimÃ©nez left the match in tears and on a stretcher after getting injured without contact before halftime. It appeared to be a left knee injury.

SOCIEDAD MOVES UP

Real Sociedad climbed to third place with a 3-2 win at Granada, moving within three points of leader Madrid. Aritz Elustondo scored twice for the visitors, including the winner in the 82nd.

Granada, which opened the scoring less than 10 minutes into the match, is yet to win this season, with three losses.

BETIS WINS AGAIN

Real Betis won 3-1 at Osasuna for its third victory in four matches in all competitions.

Manuel Pellegrini's team is eighth in the standings. It had started the season winless in its first three matches.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni

Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande gestures after showing Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong, second left, a red card during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong walks from the pitch after being given a red card during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Barcelona's Sergino Dest reacts during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Barcelona's Memphis Depay reacts during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Barcelona's head coach Ronald Koeman takes a drink during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong, left, and Cadiz's Tomas Alarcon battle for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Cadiz's Alvaro Jimenez, left, and Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong battle for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande shows a red card to Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong, obscured, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Barcelona's Memphis Depay reacts after missing a shot at goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

Barcelona's head coach Ronald Koeman gestures during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Cadiz and Barcelona at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in Cadiz, Spain, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti) The Associated Press

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