After PSG heroics, Barca loses Spanish league lead
Print Edition
REAL Madrid saw Barcelona falter and then survived an awful mistake by goalkeeper Keylor Navas to regain the Spanish league lead on Sunday.
Barcelona lost 1-2 at relegation-threatened Deportivo La Coruna in its first match after its amazing win over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League, and Real took advantage with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Real Betis, despite an own-goal by Navas.
Cristiano Ronaldo equalized before halftime and Sergio Ramos netted an 81st-minute winner for Real at the Santiago Bernabeu after Navas had pushed the ball into his own net while trying to regain control following a close-range shot.
Navas made amends with a superb save two minutes into second-half injury time to secure Real the victory and a two-point lead over Barcelona, whose 19-game unbeaten streak in the league ended in La Coruna.
“It’s part of the game, everyone makes mistakes,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane said of Navas. “In the end he saved us. The save he made has given us the three points.”
Without some of the starters from the 6-1 victory over PSG in the last 16 on Wednesday, which reversed a 0-4 first-leg loss, Barcelona lacked the same intensity that it had at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique didn’t start Rafinha, Samuel Umtiti and Neymar, who was decisive on Wednesday with two goals and two assists. Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic only entered Sunday’s match in the second half.
Striker Joselu opened the scoring for Deportivo in the 40th with a close-range shot. Luis Suarez equalized less than a minute into the second half with a right-foot strike, but the hosts went ahead again in the 74th with a firm header by Alex Bergantinos off another corner.
Deportivo, which had won only one of its last 10 matches, rose to 15th with 27 points, eight clear of the relegation zone.
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