Barca Held At Osasuna

Osasuna frustrated Barcelona to earn a well-deserved draw with the Spanish champions at the Estadio El Sadar. The home side did very well to close down Barca and not give Neymar and co and space to work with preventing the Catalan giants from creating many scoring opportunities. Pedro had a volley blocked following a Xavi free-kick in the 30th minute, after Adriano had been tripped by Loties. Damiá then missed with a header when he got on the end of a Roberto Torres corner with just five minutes to play in the first-half. Marc Bartra then headed over in the 44th minute after rising highest in the box after being picked put by a Xavi corner. Roberto Torres then tested Barca keeper Victor Valdes with a right-footed shot from outside the box but the shot-stopper was up to the challenge and pulled off a smart save. Cesc Fabregas then had two glorious chances to grab the lead for the visitors first when he shot straight at Osasuna keeper Andrés Fernández, and then shooting over after latching onto a clever through ball by Xavi. The former Arsenal midfielder then came close again in the 67th minute, but his shot flew just wide of the left hand post. Lionel Messi was then brought on to try and grab the Catalans a winner in the 68th minute for the influential Xavi. With 15 minutes remaining it was Fabregas once more but the midfielder's shot was well blocked. Talisman Messi had to wait until the 82nd minute before he forced a save out of Fernández following so good inter-play with Sergio Busquets. Osasuna held on for the final 10 minutes to frustrate the champions and end their eight game winning run and prevent Barca from scoring for the first time in 65 La Liga matches.