Barcelona have endured the week from hell, falling to a spirited Granada just days after being dumped out of the Champions League.

An early strike by Yacine Brahimi gave the hosts the lead and several brilliant saves by goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis, making only his second league appearance for the club, kept Lionel Messi and Co at bay.

Tata Martino’s side looked impotent, unable to breach an organised and disciplined defence, leaving them a point behind La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid, who play on Sunday.

Messi in particular looked dreadful, completely ineffective, just as he was against Atletico during the defeat in midweek.

The Barcelona coach made several changes ahead of Wednesday’s Copa del Rey final against arch-rivals Real Madrid.

It was a risky strategy because playing at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes is rarely easy. Real Madrid lost at this stadium last season and Barcelona barely scraped a win.

Marc Bartra was injured so Sergio Busquets stepped into central defence and Alex Song took his place in midfield.

Jordi Alba and Dani Alves were rested ahead of the upcoming Clasico, with Martin Montoya and Adriano brought in on the right and left of the defence respectively.

Those two combined early on, when Adriano delivered a floating cross from the left to where Montoya had charged into the box, but the Spaniard headed straight at Karnezis.

Then came a hammer blow for Martino and his men, when Granada captain Fran Rico fed a through-ball into Brahimi’s path after 15 minutes.

The forward held off Montoya inside the box, steadied himself and drove the ball past Jose Manuel Pinto at his near post.

Los Carmenes exploded in delight, in stark contrast to the bewildered looking Barcelona bench, with Xavi looking particularly shaken.

Granada believed they should have had a penalty soon after when Youssef El Arabi was caught by Javier Mascherano, but referee Carlos Delgado Ferreiro waved away the appeals. It would have been a soft decision but the Argentine caught his man and did not touch the ball.

Messi, looking particularly listless, nodded wide from Neymar’s inswinging cross.

Fabregas, who has been poor since the turn of the year, had a good chance to equalise after 28 minutes but his shot from 12 yards was blocked.

A Neymar strike suffered the same fate, as Martino’s side pressed for the equaliser. The Brazilian then launched a 30-yard effort at goal but Karnezis palmed it away spectacularly.

Barcelona began to lose their temper and even the usually ice-cool Andres Iniesta was tempted into an unseemly barge on Allan Nyom.

Neymar was then winded by a forearm from Manuel Iturra, when the defender stood his ground as the Brazilian ran towards him.

The forward was clearly furious and threw his water bottle to the floor after the officials took their time to allow him back on.

Neymar, looking like the only Blaugrana player who was interested in trying to salvage their title bid, dribbled past two men on the left and fed Iniesta, whose strike deflected wide off of one of his team-mates. It summed up Barcelona’s first half.

Barcelona’s forward was also booked for a frustrated hack at Nyom before the half drew to a close.

Fabregas tested the waters early in the second half with a snapped half-volley from the edge of the box but Karnezis was equal to it, diving low to fist it away. Neymar then had a low shot which whistled past the far post with the goalkeeper beaten.

Messi forced the Greek goalkeeper into an excellent fingertip save from a free-kick, and he denied Busquets after a goal-mouth scramble from the subsequent corner.

Brahimi had a brilliant chance to double the lead when played in on goal, but this time Montoya was able to deny him with a last-ditch challenge.

Barcelona looked lout of ideas, just as they had against Diego Simeone’s team on Wednesday night. Martino threw on Alba and Alexis Sanchez for Adriano and Busquets as his team frantically searched for the equaliser.

Granada went close again when Piti’s low strike was saved by Pinto, who spilled the ball, but El Arabi was offside when he tried to reach the rebound.

Pedro fired a ball across the face of goal but Messi stretched and failed to reach it as we entered the final 10 minutes of a gripping encounter.

Neymar nearly made the difference when he flicked it past Karnezis, but Illori was alert and nipped it in the bud by mopping up behind the goalkeeper.

Granada actually created the best chance of the second half at the death, hitting Barcelona on the break. El Arabi was sent clean through on goal but Pinto denied him, and blocked the rebound as well.

As the full-time whistle blew Granada’s players celebrated wildly, having gained essential ground in the relegation dogfight.

But the implications were just as serious for Barcelona, because now the title is out of their hands and they need Atletico to stumble before they visit the Nou Camp on the last day.

Given how well the Rojiblanco have been performing, that does not look likely.

—Daily Mail