Barca's party ruined as Las Palmas shocks leader
LaLiga leader Barcelona lost for the first time at this season as it was beaten 2-1 by relegation-threatened Las Palmas, ruining 125th anniversary celebrations for the Blaugrana.
The result extended Barcelona's winless run to three league matches, coming after a draw at Celta Vigo and defeat to Real Sociedad earlier this month.
Hansi Flick's side remains top of the table on 34 points, four clear of second-placed Real Madrid, but Los Blancos do have two games in hand.
Las Palmas, meanwhile, has moved up to 14th place on 15 points after a quite astonishing victory.
The visitors opened the scoring in the 49th minute through Sandro Ramirez, who scored with a fantastic finish, driving across goal to find the bottom corner.
The lead only lasted 12 minutes though, with Raphinha getting the hosts back on terms with a left-foot strike that flew past ex-Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen before he could blink.
But the visitors surprised everyone by getting ahead once again in the 67th minute.
Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee Fabio Silva snuck through the offside trap to get on the end of a pass from Javi Munoz, shrugged off the defence before finding the back of net to help his side secure a famous victory.
Barcelona's defeat at Olympic Stadium was the first match in nine home games this season that it has failed to win.
While it leads second-placed Madrid by four points and third-placed Atletico Madrid by five, both have at least one game in hand over the Catalan side.
Barcelona now goes into back-to-back away games in LaLiga, having won just two of its past five on the road.
Flick said he still believes in his players despite extending their winless run.
"I don't think there is a lack of confidence in the players. Players alone can't win games. It's always about the team. We need to have good connections in defence and in attack, and today we didn't have them," Flick said.
"I believe in the players. I have confidence in them, but things are as they are. When I started here, I told them there would be no excuses.
"It's normal that some players, when they come back from injury, are not at the highest level. But if we play as a team, we should be able to beat any team, but if some players are disconnected, it doesn't go well."
Barcelona does not return home until 16 December (AEDT) against Leganes, with away games at Mallorca and Real Betis in LaLiga followed by Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League to come.
"We have to accept the slump, now another month starts. The team has the quality," Flick said. "Today it was not possible. In front of goal we were not able to score."
Raphinha knows his side must return to winning ways if it is to challenge for the title.
"We were bad in the game. We have to look at what we are doing wrong to try to improve and win the games," the Brazilian said.
"We have dropped the level of what we were doing and this is making games more difficult for us.
"I don't care about the goal, I care about the victory. We didn't win, and I'm not satisfied with the match. Am I angry? Yes."
