PAMPLONA, Spain :Croatian forward Ante Budimir scored twice to help Osasuna earn a shock 4-2 home win over leaders Barcelona and hand the visitors their first defeat of the LaLiga season on Saturday.
Barca manager Hansi Flick dropped regular starters Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Inigo Martinez to the bench with an eye on Tuesday’s Champions League match against Young Boys and Osasuna, roared on by a sold-out El Sadar Stadium, started aggressively.
They pressed high relentlessly and threatened with quick counter attacks that hurt their much changed rivals.
Bryan Zaragoza, on-loan from Bayern Munich, crossed to Budimir to open the scoring with a close-range header in the 18th minute and the 23-year-old winger extended Osasuna’s lead with a strike from a quick counter-attack 10 minutes later.
Barca reduced the deficit thanks to a massive blunder by Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera who failed to keep out a weak strike by Pau Victor in the 53rd minute, but Budimir extended the hosts’ lead from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute, after he was fouled inside the box.
Substitute Abel Bretones scored the fourth with a brilliant strike from long range in the 83rd minute, before substitute Yamal scored Barca’s second with a shot from the edge of the box in the 89th.
Barca top the standings on 21 points, four ahead second-placed Real Madrid who have a game in hand and face local rivals Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Osasuna are sixth on 14 points.
“We knew that Barcelona were a tough team, that they had won everything and that we had to go out and bite, and that’s how we went out,” Zaragoza told Movistar Plus.
“It is a special and beautiful game to play against Barca and I could stay all night here celebrating with the fans.”
The pacey Zaragoza was a constant menace running up and down the left channel.
He dribbled past Jules Kounde before crossing for Budimir to score the opener and showed exquisite technique to run past the goalkeeper and tap the ball into the empty net for the second goal.
Barcelona dominated possession but looked out of ideas up-front until Flick brought Yamal and Raphinha off the bench late in the second half, after a double error from Herrera helped them reduce the deficit.
First the Osasuna keeper rolled the ball out to a Barca player then could not get back to keep out Victor’s tame strike from the edge of the box that slipped through his hands and into the net.
Barca started to create more chances but were often exposed on the counter, with one such break leading to Osasuna’s third goal.
Zaragoza recovered the ball and fired a long pass through that Jesus Areso took in his stride before sending a low cross to Budimir, who was tackled from behind by defender Sergi Dominguez to concede a penalty in the 71st minute that the Croatian despatched.
Bretones effectively made the game safe but after Yamal scored the visitors’ second with a fine curling strike, Barca pushed for another with Ferran Torres hitting the post in added time, but it was too little too late.
