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Osasuna 3-2 Barcelona

Osasuna 3-2 Barcelona
© PA Photos
Osasuna win their first game of 2012 to dent Barcelona's title hopes.

Osasuna produced a stunning first-half display to shock Barcelona and hand Real Madrid a huge advantage in the La Liga title race.

With a Champions League fixture at Bayer Leverkusen coming up on Tuesday, Pep Guardiola opted to start with Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas all on the bench.

The Barcelona boss looked on as his side went 2-0 down in 22 minutes to a Dejan Lekic double.

The Catalonians dominated possession in the first half, but they could not deal with their opponents' direct approach in the icy conditions.

Guardiola replaced Pedro and Carlos Puyol with Cristian Tello and Isaac Cuenca at the break and his team began the second half brilliantly.

When Cuenca crossed from the right for Alexis Sanchez to hammer home on 51 minutes, a turnaround looked very likely.

Five minutes later, Victor Valdes undid his teammates' good work as the goalkeeper's short pass was intercepted and provided Raul Garcia with a simple finish to regain Osasuna's two-goal advantage.

Tello set up a dramatic finish on 73 minutes with a drilled effort after good work from Fabregas.

Controversy struck ten minutes later, as Sanchez thought he had levelled the scores only for his goal to be ruled out for offside. Replays later showed the Chilean was onside.

Fabregas had a chance in the fourth minute of stoppage time, but his header was well blocked by Andres.

Barcelona have now failed to win seven of their 21 La Liga games this season.

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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Barcelona13110240122833
2Real Madrid1283125111427
3Atletico MadridAtletico137511971226
4Villarreal127322319424
5Osasuna136341720-321
6Athletic Bilbao135531913620
7Real BetisBetis135531412220
8Real Sociedad135351110118
9Mallorca135351010018
10GironaGirona135351617-118
11Celta Vigo135262022-217
12Rayo Vallecano124441313016
13Sevilla134361218-615
14Leganes133551316-314
15AlavesAlaves134181422-813
16Las PalmasLas Palmas133371622-612
17Getafe13175811-310
18Espanyol123181122-1110
19Real ValladolidValladolid132381025-159
20Valencia11146817-97


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