Staff Reporter.
Nico Gonzalez and Abdessamad Ezzalzouli scored their first career goals for Bracelona on Sunday as they were pegged back late to draw with Osasuna 2-2 at the El Sadar Stadium.
The result sees Xavi’s side stay eighth in the table, 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, who play later on Sunday.
Teenagers Gonzalez and Ezzalzouli, both 19, scored for the visitors.
But the hosts twice fought back, with David Garcia and Ezequiel Avila ensuring they claimed a deserved point from the contest.
Barcelona had come into the fixture looking to make amends for consecutive defeats by Real Betis and Bayern Munich.
Midfielder Gonzalez, gave them a perfect start, racing on to Gavi’s superb pass and prodding past home goalkeeper Sergio Herrera to register his first goal for the club.
However, Garcia headed in an equaliser two minutes later after some non-existent marking from a set-piece and Barca, who are still suffering from a lengthy injury list, struggled to provide forward support to the isolated Luuk de Jong for most of the first period.
They did improve after the break and Ousmane Dembele’s driving run was rewarded as Ezzalzouli converted his cross from close range.
The Moroccan winger’s goal marked the first time that two players under the age of 20 have scored for Barca in a single La Liga season this century.
And with the clock ticking down it appeared to have put them on course for a much-needed victory until Avila drove in from the edge of the penalty area.
“I think that’s the positive and the negative,” Barca coach Xavi Hernandez said after the game of his young goalscorers.
“The players making the difference at Barcelona now are 17, 18 and 19. Positive for the future but also a negative. Such young players won’t always perform excellently. We need time, patience. Gavi, Nico were spectacular. But they don’t want to be the spine of the team.”
Xavi said the club needed “a reset,” to create a new Barca.
“We are in a negative spiral and we need to find a way to break it,” he added. “This draw is not enough. When we scored the second goal we should have taken control but we didn’t and that made us suffer.”
With Real playing city rivals Atletico at 20:00 GMT, Barca could find themselves 18 points adrift of Carlo Ancelotti’s side by the end of Sunday.