Barcelona struggles to draw against Granada as an arduous season looms

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(CNN)Barcelona's sluggish commencement to the play continued connected Monday arsenic the Catalan nine hardly managed to scrape a gully against lowly Granada astatine the Camp Nou.

The visiting broadside took the pb done Domingos Duarte aft conscionable 2 minutes, but it took Barça until the 90th infinitesimal to yet travel up with an equalizer arsenic Ronald Araujo headed location from Gavi's cross.

Barcelona surely dominated proceedings and Granada had goalkeeper Luís Maximiano to convey for keeping them successful the pb with a astute prevention from an earlier Araujo header, but Ronald Koeman's broadside looked somewhat toothless successful onslaught contempt its overwhelming possession.

    For a squad that had unquestionably go excessively reliant connected Lionel Messi successful caller years, this play looks acceptable to beryllium a agelong and arduous 1 for the blaugrana.

      An battle connected the La Liga rubric looks progressively improbable and a humbling 3-0 decision astatine location to Bayern Munich successful the opening Champions League radical crippled lone served to hammer location conscionable however acold down Europe's starring clubs Barcelona is.

      Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay trudge disconnected  astatine  the extremity  of the match.

      The Spanish press, unsurprisingly, has not held backmost successful its investigation of the team.

      One header successful paper Diario AS read: "Araujo saves a Barcelona that is successful the ICU."

      "The thrust of the Uruguayan halfway backmost was cardinal to a gully that saves Koeman's head, for now," it continued. "It was a invaluable constituent for Granada astatine the Camp Nou, wherever whistles were heard."

      Another header successful rival insubstantial Diario Sport simply said: "Koeman, much unsocial than ever."

      "The attack against Granada and the effect permission the manager connected a tightrope," it read, highlighting besides that, nether Koeman, Barcelona has failed to triumph successful 5 of its past 8 La Liga matches, stretching backmost to the extremity of past season.

      As helium tried to support the caller results, Koeman is quoted successful Sport arsenic saying: "This is not the Barça of 8 years ago. People volition beryllium unhappy with the result, but not with the cognition the squad has shown.

      Ronald Koeman looked dejected astatine  afloat  time.

      "If you spot today's list, if you spot the [player] call-up ... bash you deliberation you person to play 'tiki-taki?'" helium questioned, referencing the benignant favored by ex-Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola.

      It was surely a acold outcry from the tiki-taka of old, arsenic Barça enactment successful an unthinkable 45 crosses into the container from unfastened play -- though, successful the end, it was the benignant that broke Granada's resistance.

      But Koeman arguably has a point.

      Barcelona's perilous fiscal position, caused by years of mismanagement and scattergun spending, has near the Dutchman with a hodgepodge radical of youngsters -- talented, certainly, but hardly successful the perfect circumstances to turn and flourish -- and veterans.

      The likes of Philippe Coutinho and the permanently injured Ousmane Dembele, 2 of Barcelona's 3 astir costly signings successful history, are a changeless reminder of the frivolousness that got the nine into this position.

      Ronald Araujo celebrates his equalizing goal.

        Perhaps it's a motion of however acold Barca has fallen that the players celebrated a last-minute equalizer against Granada, a squad without a triumph truthful acold this season, arsenic ecstatically arsenic they did.

        The gully lifts Barcelona to seventh spot successful La Liga, 5 points down league person and bitter rival Real Madrid but with a crippled successful hand.

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