Barcelona missed a valuable opportunity to regain the top spot in the Spanish League after losing the Catalan derby to Girona 2-1, in a match that witnessed a missed penalty kick, protests over refereeing decisions, and a second loss in a row for the Catalan team.

Published on: 02/16/2026 - 23:47 Last updated: 02/17/2026 - 10:47

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Girona prevented its guest Barcelona from remaining at the top of the Spanish Football League, after it won the Catalunya derby 2-1 on Monday at the end of the twenty-fourth stage.

After Lamine Yamal missed a penalty kick for Barcelona (45+1), Pau Kuparsi succeeded in opening the scoring for the visitors (59), before Frenchman Thomas Lemar quickly scored the equalizer (62), then substitute Joel Roca scored the winning goal (87).

Barcelona was unable to regain the lead that would have been possible if it had won and reached 61 points, as it suffered its fourth loss in the league and its score froze at 58 points, two points behind Real Madrid, which beat Real Sociedad 4-1 on Saturday.

Read also: Atletico Madrid sweeps Barcelona by four and puts one foot in the Spanish Cup final

This is the second defeat in a row for Barcelona in various competitions, after it suffered a heavy loss to Atletico Madrid 0-4 in the first leg of the semi-finals of the cup competition.

On the other hand, Girona achieved its first victory after two draws and a defeat, raising its score to 29 points, rising to twelfth place.

The beginning of the match witnessed early pressure from the visitors through Yamal, who shot a ball close to the goal (6), then the Brazilian Rafinha had a dangerous opportunity, but he missed it from close range (16), followed by another threat from Yamal with a shot that was caught by Argentine goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga (17).

The first response from Girona came from Ukrainian Viktor Tsyganov with a shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Joan Garcia (23), before the same player returned for a new attempt from close range, and found Garcia in front of him again (29).

Barcelona almost opened the scoring with a shot from Rafinha that hit the right post (43), then won a penalty kick after a mistake by Dutchman Danny Blind, but Yamal put the ball on the post (45 + 3).

From a cross ball played by Frenchman Jules Conde, Kuparsi rose and headed the first goal (59), but Barcelona's joy only lasted two minutes, as Lemar equalized with a close shot after a cross from Ukrainian Vladislav Vanat, taking advantage of the absence of defensive control (62).

Goalkeeper Garcia returned to save his team from a second goal brilliantly on two occasions against the same player, as Joel Roca tried from a very close range (68), then shot from the other side, but the Barcelona goalkeeper turned the ball into a corner (75).

Despite the entry of veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski and Syrian-Swedish Ronnie Bardajji, Barcelona's offensive momentum remained limited, with the exception of a shot from Yamal that passed close to the right post (82).

When Roca had the third opportunity, this time he was able to score the net, scoring the winning goal for the home team and defeating Garcia with a creeping shot (87).

Barcelona coach German Hansi Flick protested the goal, saying that Argentine substitute Claudio Echeverri committed a foul on Kunde before scoring.

Barcelona previously denounced on Saturday the “lack of consistency” in arbitration decisions, in a letter sent to the local game federation, in which it demanded immediate changes to be made in order to preserve the “credibility” of the various competitions, following its loss to Atletico.

In the final moments of the match, the referee showed a direct red card to the scorer of the winning goal, Roca, after a violent intervention on Yamal (90+9).

France 24/AFP

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