Barcelona's Record Chase Falters Against Alaves

Newly-crowned champions, but very much second best on the night. Barcelona’s pursuit of La Liga’s fabled 100-point mark died in the Basque cold, undone by a hungry Alaves side fighting for their lives and a single, ruthless finish from Ibrahim Diabate.

Hansi Flick’s team arrived in Vitoria knowing exactly what was required: three wins from three to match the all-time record. They didn’t survive the first step. A 1-0 defeat, narrow on the scoreboard, felt far heavier in mood.

Champions on a comedown

The warning signs were there. An emotional Clasico win on Sunday to clinch back-to-back titles. An open-top bus parade through Barcelona on Monday. The party bled into midweek, and their performance carried the hangover.

Flick rotated, as he had promised. There was a debut for 21-year-old centre-back Alvaro Cortes, one of several changes from the side that had overwhelmed Real Madrid. Minutes were managed, legs were protected, and the coach was open about seeing “the positives” in the youngsters’ exposure.

But Alaves were in no mood for experiments.

Quique Sanchez Flores’s team, marooned in the relegation fight for months, treated the night like a final. They harried, they fouled when they had to, they turned every duel into a scrap. Barcelona had the ball, Marcus Rashford brought drive and energy from the flank, yet the champions rarely pierced the blue-and-white wall in front of them.

The pressure, instead, told at the other end.

Diabate strikes, Barca switch off

Deep into first-half stoppage time, Barcelona switched off for a heartbeat and paid in full. A corner was swung in, Antonio Blanco won the first contact and nodded it back towards goal. The visiting defence froze. Diabate did not.

He pounced, smashing his finish past Wojciech Szczesny as the defenders in front of him reacted a second too late. Mendizorroza erupted. In one swing of the boot, Alaves climbed out of the drop zone and up to 15th, the goal as vital as any they have scored this season.

Flick could live with the timing, but not the manner. A cheap concession, right on half-time, to a team whose only real threat came from set pieces and counters.

After the interval, Szczesny had to keep Barcelona alive again, beating away another fierce drive from Diabate as Alaves sniffed a second. The champions pushed forward in waves, but the final pass kept dying on crowded shins and determined blocks.

Jon Guridi almost finished them off. Released on the right, he cut across goal and drilled a low shot beyond Szczesny’s reach, only to see it cannon back off the far post. That escape should have sparked a response. It didn’t. Barcelona’s possession remained sterile, their threat more theoretical than real.

The title is already in the bag. The record will stay out of reach.

Sevilla roar back from the brink

If Barcelona’s night drifted away, Sevilla’s exploded into life.

Two down inside 20 minutes at Villarreal, the Andalusians looked set for another anxious evening in a season that has dragged them uncomfortably close to the trapdoor. Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze had fired the hosts, sitting third, into what felt like a commanding lead.

Sevilla refused to fold.

Oso struck first to haul them back into the contest, and suddenly the swagger returned. Kike Salas then dragged them level before the break, turning a crisis into a platform. Villarreal, so sharp early on, lost their grip.

The decisive blow came in the 72nd minute. Akor Adams, alert and ruthless, delivered the winner to complete a 3-2 turnaround that may yet define Sevilla’s season. Three victories on the spin have carried them up to 10th, four points clear of the relegation zone and finally looking upwards.

For Salas, who spoke of the “indescribable” feeling of giving something back to a suffering fanbase, it was more than three points. It felt like a reset. All this in the same week reports swirl that former defender Sergio Ramos is close to fronting a takeover of the club alongside an investment firm. Turbulent times, but at last, the team is matching the noise off the pitch.

Tears in Barcelona… but at Espanyol

Across the city, a different kind of emotion spilled out.

Espanyol, stuck in a nightmare run stretching across 18 league games without a win, finally broke free with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao. It was their first success of 2026, and it showed.

Pere Milla’s goal after the break loosened the tension. Kike Garcia’s late strike shattered it. When the second went in, coach Manolo Gonzalez could not hold back the tears on the touchline. Months of pressure, anger and doubt poured out in that moment.

He did not dress it up. The winless streak, he admitted, had been “one of the worst experiences” of his professional and personal life. Now, at last, there is daylight: Espanyol sit 14th, three points clear of the bottom three.

There is no room for relief to turn into complacency. Gonzalez was already looking ahead, demanding his players carry this surge into Pamplona against Osasuna on Sunday. No safety-first football, no retreat. Momentum, he insisted, must be chased, not guarded.

Mallorca sink as Getafe rise

For Mallorca, the evening brought only more anxiety.

Beaten 3-1 at Getafe, they remain stranded in 17th and firmly in the relegation conversation. Getafe, by contrast, strengthened their push for Europe, the win boosting their hopes of reaching the Conference League next season.

At one end of the table, Barcelona can afford to shrug off a missed record and talk about development, rotations and long-term plans. At the other, every point feels like oxygen.

In Vitoria, in Villarreal, in Barcelona and in Getafe, the story was the same: La Liga’s title may be settled, but the season is anything but.