Barcelona Endures 2-1 Defeat Against Las Palmas on Club's 125th Anniversary

Barcelona’s 125th anniversary celebrations were overshadowed by a surprising 2-1 defeat to Las Palmas on Saturday. Despite dominating the game with 70% possession and nearly 30 shots, Barcelona failed to capitalize on their opportunities, while Las Palmas made the most of their limited chances to secure a memorable win.

Barca remain atop the LaLiga table with 34 points, leading second-place Real Madrid by four points, though Madrid now has two games in hand. The victory lifted Las Palmas to 14th place with 15 points.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick reflected on the match, saying, "When we don't score the goals, the team struggles a bit, and this is what we need to improve. If we don't score, we should at least aim to keep a clean sheet. We need to defend better as a team, not just the defensive players but everyone."

In the first half, Las Palmas found spaces in Barca's defense but failed to convert their chances. Barcelona suffered an early setback with the injury of full-back Alejandro Balde, who was replaced on a golf cart. Raphinha came close to breaking the deadlock with a shot that hit the crossbar just before halftime.

Las Palmas opened the scoring early in the second half with a well-executed passing play that ended with Sandro Ramirez, a former Barca player, scoring from the edge of the box.

Raphinha equalized for Barca just after the hour mark, finishing a move set up by Pedri with a precise left-footed shot. This was Raphinha's ninth league goal of the season.

However, Las Palmas regained the lead when Fabio Silva, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, exploited a gap in Barca’s defense to score from a pass by Javi Munoz. Despite pushing hard for an equalizer, Barca could not find the back of the net again, with Raphinha’s free kick being saved by Cillessen.