Barca draw at Osasuna opens up league

Osasuna dug in deep and denied Barcelona a win

The draw at the weekend against Osasuna in Pamplona has effectively opened up the league to Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid.

Everyone knew it was going to be a tough game and a very good Osasuna side dug their heels in to deny Barca a win in Pamplona. They held the Catalan giants to a nil nil draw and after the match Puyol said that it “was another point and the league is very long”.

Barcelona monopolised the ball in every moment but the Pamplona side did everything in their power to stop the Catalans from going home to Catalona with a valuable win.

Marc Bartra and Cesc Fabregas had the best chances of the match but couldn’t make them count in this very intensely fought clash.

Martino’s boys tried with all their might and resources but failed to net a goal.Sergio Busquets said before the match that if Barca didn’t come away with three points, the league could be blown wide open.

Blown open it has been as Real Madrid beat Malaga by 2 goals to nil with Atletico Madrid losing 1 nil away to Espanyol and wasting a valuable chance to top the league.Barcelona are still leaders with 25 points with Atletico on 24 and Real Madrid bring up the rear with 22.

There were just two substitutions for Barcelona with Tello coming on for Pedro and Messi coming on for Xavi.Maybe Martino hoped the Argentine would make the difference in this stalemate but it wasn’t to be. Messi was not really seen and he never looked like threatening Osasuna as they dug in deep.

This may not be the best result for Barcelona with the clasico around the corner but as the captain said: It’s a point.The league is very long”.