As Barcelona fielded their starting XI against Eibar, there was one important piece missing. Starting in the right attacking midfield slot was a certain Antoine Griezmann, who had replaced Lionel Messi in the lineup owing to an ankle injury the Argentine seemed to have picked up against Real Valladolid.
Messi, although given the day off for to fully recover from his ankle injury, was in the stands quietly watching his side struggle to score against a lowly Eibar. He was probably hoping to see the likes of Pedri, Griezmann, and Frenkie de Jong pick up some of the slack in his absence which, sadly, was not to be as Barcelona fell to a 1-1 draw at home after a jaw-dropping performance by their impeccable standards.
For starters, Martin Braithwaite missed a penalty that they obviously needed badly. Then Griezmann barely managed to put a foot right. Ousmane Dembele missed a sitter, and Ronald Araujo made a critical error after having a solid game.
Finally, Barcelona were only able to rescue a point courtesy of Dembele who made restitution for his miss earlier. One point is decidedly insufficient though, considering how the season has gone so far for the once-invincible Blaugrana, and Messi’s expression after the full-time whistle clearly expressed the same verdict.
Barcelona had a chance to climb the ladder and stake their claim to the third spot, but once again fizzled out under the pressure. As it stands, they now sit 6th entering the new year, in the hope that the advent of the new year brings a new theme and a new president who can hopefully clean out the mess in the Aegean stables.