Shock as La Liga champions Barcelona loose to underdogs Deportivo Alaves

Arda Turan struggles for the ball with Alaves midfielder Marcos Llorente [PHOTO: COURTESY]

Barcelona were yesterday ashamed by newly promoted Alaves at Camp Nou as they stumbled to an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Camp Nou.

Superstars Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Andres Iniesta were brought off the bench in the second half as Luis Enrique picked a heavily rotated team but even with them on the pitch Barcelona struggled to break down the brave Alaves defence.

Deyverson sent Alaves ahead in the 39th minute when he moved swiftly past Jasper Cillessen from close range, before Jeremy Mathieu equalised immediately after half-time from Neymar’s corner.

However, despite the introduction of Barcelona’s stars, the visitors went ahead again as Javier Mascherano and Aleix Vidal failed to deal with Ibai Gomez, who wriggled away and sent Alaves ahead again.

Ivan Rakitic was guilty of a couple of misses, while Messi skied a free-kick and Mathieu missed the best chance of them all, lashing wide from just a couple of yards out.