Barcelona's Ambitions Dashed by Alaves, Sevilla and Espanyol Find Form
Newly-crowned champions, but not untouchable. Barcelona arrived in Vitoria dreaming of a sprint to the finish line and a shot at La Liga’s fabled 100-point mark. They left with that ambition buried under Alaves’ desperation and Ibrahim Diabate’s ruthless timing.
Alaves punch back, Barca switch off
Hansi Flick knew the arithmetic: three wins from three to reach a century of points. Instead, his side tripped at the first step, beaten 1-0 by an Alaves team fighting for their lives and now out of the relegation zone, up to 15th.
The backdrop was always going to matter. Barcelona had spent Monday parading the trophy through the streets on an open-top bus, soaking in back-to-back titles and a Clasico triumph that sealed the deal. In Vitoria, the hangover was subtle but unmistakable. They had the ball, they had territory, but the edge that defines champions in May flickered in and out.
Flick rotated heavily. Twenty-one-year-old centre-back Alvaro Cortes made his debut, one of several changes from the side that had overpowered Real Madrid. The German coach was open about his priorities: minutes to manage, young legs to test, a long-term picture to protect.
Alaves, by contrast, had no such luxury. Quique Sanchez Flores set his team up to suffer, scrap and survive. They did all three.
Marcus Rashford, lively on the wing, tried to inject pace and direct running into Barcelona’s possession game. The visitors probed, recycled, and circled the box, but rarely pierced it. Alaves’ back line held their shape and their nerve, forcing Barca into safe passes and hopeful crosses rather than clear chances.
Then, right on the stroke of half-time, the champions blinked.
A corner was only half-cleared, Antonio Blanco rose and nodded the ball back into the danger zone, and Barcelona’s defenders froze. Diabate did not. He reacted first, pounced, and lashed his finish past Wojciech Szczesny in stoppage time. One moment of conviction, one goal that changed everything.
Flick could point to positives. He did. Young players blooded, minutes shared, no panic. But the goal, arriving in the last action of the half, exposed a softness that title-winning sides usually bury.
After the break, Alaves smelled a famous win. Diabate almost doubled the lead with a low strike that Szczesny had to claw away, the Polish goalkeeper keeping Barcelona in touch while those in front of him searched for rhythm.
They never really found it. Rashford kept running, the ball kept circulating, yet the clear-cut opening never came. Alaves continued to throw bodies in front of shots, to close angles, to turn every second ball into a duel.
The best chance of the half didn’t even fall to Barcelona. Jon Guridi broke free and drilled a shot across Szczesny, beating the keeper but not the post. The ball cannoned back out, a reminder that Alaves were not simply hanging on; they were close to killing the game off.
When the final whistle blew, the storylines diverged sharply. Barcelona’s pursuit of 100 points was over. Alaves, battered all season by the fear of the drop, had a landmark win and a precious climb away from the bottom three. For Flick, the night became less about records and more about squad evolution. For Sanchez Flores, it was about survival and a dressing room that still believes.
Sevilla’s wild revival in Villarreal
Earlier in the evening, another club mired in anxiety found something far more intoxicating: a comeback that could reshape their season.
Sevilla, dragged alarmingly close to the relegation fight in recent months, travelled to Villarreal and conceded twice inside 20 minutes. Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze struck early, and the hosts, sitting third, looked ready to turn the night into a procession.
Sevilla refused to fold.
Oso pulled one back, Kike Salas dragged them level before the interval, and suddenly a team that had forgotten how to enjoy football started to look like itself again. The second half turned into a test of nerve, and Sevilla passed it.
In the 72nd minute, Akor Adams delivered the decisive blow, completing a 3-2 turnaround that felt bigger than three points. It was their third consecutive victory, lifting them up to 10th, four points clear of the drop zone and, crucially, restoring a sense of direction.
All of it played out against a fascinating backdrop: reports that former defender Sergio Ramos is close to fronting a takeover of the club alongside an investment firm. A legend potentially returning in the boardroom just as the team finds its fight again on the pitch. The symbolism will not be lost on anyone in Andalusia.
Salas, one of the heroes of the night, summed up the mood in simple terms: the feeling of finally giving something back to fans who have endured a season of fear and frustration.
Espanyol finally snap the nightmare
If Sevilla’s resurgence felt dramatic, Espanyol’s win carried the weight of pure relief.
At home to Athletic Bilbao, they did something they had not managed in 18 league games in 2026: they won. Pere Milla and Kike Garcia struck in the second half to secure a 2-0 victory that lifted the Catalan side to 14th, three points clear of the relegation zone.
For coach Manolo Gonzalez, the ordeal had been more than a sporting crisis. He described the long winless run as one of the worst experiences of his professional and personal life. When Garcia scored late on to make the points safe, Gonzalez’s reaction said everything. Tears in his eyes, the weight of months finally loosening its grip.
There was no talk of easing off. His message was immediate and sharp: next stop Pamplona, and they must go there to win against Osasuna. No safety-first approach, no hiding. Use the momentum, stretch it, ride it as far as it will go.
Mallorca sink as Getafe eye Europe
While some clubs climbed out of danger, Mallorca slipped deeper into it. A 3-1 defeat at Getafe left them 17th and exposed, with the hosts strengthening their own push for a European place. Sitting seventh, Getafe now have the Conference League firmly in their sights.
On a night when Barcelona’s perfection chase died quietly, the real drama belonged to those fighting at the other end of the table. Alaves, Sevilla, Espanyol, Getafe, Mallorca — for them, every point now bends the shape of a season.
The title is settled. The stories that will define this campaign are still being written at the bottom.
