Barcelona were held to a disappointing draw with Eibar in La Liga on Tuesday as Lionel Messi watched from the stands at the Camp Nou.
– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
Ronald Koeman’s side went into the game without the services of Messi, who was granted an extended holiday break by the Dutch manager earlier in the week to deal with an ankle issue.
Barca had the chance to take the lead inside of 15 minutes after VAR awarded them a penalty, but Martin Braithwaite skewed his spot kick wide of the goal and match remained scoreless.
The hosts dominated possession, but it was Eibar that had the better of the chances as Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen made two solid saves to keep the scoreline at 0-0 going into half-time.
Barcelona came firing out of the gates in the second half, with an enlivened attack leading to a pair of near misses from Ousmane Dembele and Miralem Pjanic in the opening five minutes after the restart.
Despite the strong start, it was Eibar who would score first when Kike dispossessed Ronald Araujo and calmly slotted past Ter Stegen to stake the visitors to the lead just before the hour mark.
Dembele made amends for an earlier miss to draw Barca level when he chipped Eibar’s Marko Dmitrovic from a fine run and assist by Junior Firpo.
Philippe Coutinho limped off in the closing minutes with an apparent injury as Barca pushed for the winner, but none came as Eibar picked up their first point at the Camp Nou in the seven matches they’ve played there.
The result leaves Barcelona in sixth place, seven points behind co-leaders Atletico and Real Madrid, who both have 32.