MADRID, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona was held to a 1-1 draw at home to Eibar on Wednesday to once again further confirm the poor season for Ronald Koeman's side.
Leo Messi was in the stands after being allowed to return late from Argentina, and he was sorely missed as Eibar was able to snuff out Barca for most of the game to claim its first-ever point at the Camp Nou.
Martin Braithwaite thought he had opened the scoring for Barca after 25 minutes, but the VAR ruled out his goal for a tight offside decision, and for the most part, Eibar was able to shut Barca out in the first half, which caused a few problems themselves from set-pieces.
Ronald Koeman reacted at the break by changing from a system with three central defenders to a flat back four, replacing Sergino Dest with Ousmane Dembele, with Oscar Mingueza switching to right back.
Eibar goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic denied Dembele in the 56th minute after the winger had been put clean through on goal, just a minute before Kike Garcia opened the scoring for Eibar.
The big striker bullied Ronald Araujo off the ball before running through and showing Dembele how it's done with just the keeper to beat.
Dembele learned the lesson as he equalized with a low shot 10 minutes later after a flowing move ended with Junior Firpo's ball across the Eibar area.
Pedri and Francisco Trincao both went close in the closing minutes. Still, neither was able to beat Dmitrovic, and things got even worse for Barca as Philippe Coutinho had to limp off with what looked like it could be a serious knee injury.
The day kicked off with Sevilla spoiling Unai Emery's return as Villarreal coach, and the man who led Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League titles had to watch as his side slipped to a 2-0 defeat.
Lucas Ocampos opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the fifth minute after the VAR spotted a handball from Juan Foyth that nobody appealed for. Youssef En Neysiri doubled Sevilla's lead after being put through seven minutes into the second half.
Atletico and Real Madrid play their respective matches against Getafe and Elche on Wednesday. Enditem
