Barcelona entered the away match at the Mendizorrotza stadium with a fairly comfortable mentality after officially winning La Liga in the previous round. Hansi Flick also strongly rotated the squad when making up to eight changes in the starting lineup.
However, this disruption quickly made it difficult for the Catalan team against a Deportivo Alaves that was fighting fiercely for relegation. In the first minute, Ibrahim Diabate made Barca's defense falter with a dangerous threat.
Although the two teams launched nine shots in just over 30 minutes of the match, the quality in the final handling was not really good when neither side put the ball into the target. In a context where both Robert Lewandowski and Marcus Rashford played faintly, Barcelona gradually lost their familiar sharpness.
The biggest turning point of the match appeared right before halftime. In the last minute of the first half, Ibrahim Diabate took advantage of the lack of concentration in the away team's defense to open the score for Alaves. This striker successfully pressed Marc Bernal before unleashing a beautiful volley that defeated Wojciech Szczesny.
In the second half, Alaves actively retreated with a five-man defense system to preserve the advantage. However, the home team still created many dangerous counter-attacks. In the 50th minute, Diabate almost completed a double with a powerful header, forcing Szczesny to make an excellent save.
In the last 15 minutes of the match, Barcelona began to increase pressure and almost pushed the entire Alaves squad to their own half. However, the La Liga champions were still completely deadlocked against the disciplined and dedicated defense of the home team at Mendizorrotza stadium.
The 0-1 defeat not only closed Barcelona's 11-match winning streak in La Liga, but also helped Alaves defeat the Catalan team for the first time in 8 years with a streak of 18 consecutive encounters without knowing the taste of victory.
