Osasuna 2-2 Barcelona: 5 talking points as Blaugrana are held at the death | La Liga 2021-22

Barcelona's miserable La Liga 2021-22 campaign continued after a 2-2 draw with Osasuna on Sunday.

Ezequiel Avila scored in the 86th minute for the hosts to force a share of the spoils.

Nico Gonzalez gave the visitors the lead in the 12th minute but David Garcia restored parity for Los Rojillos just two minutes later.

Abde Ezzalzouli then put Barcelona in front again only for Avila to pop up with a late equalizer and ensure squeaky bum time at El Sadar.

Barcelona, winless in their last three games in all competitions, trail leaders Real Madrid by 18 points albeit with a game in hand.

Here are the major talking points:

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#5 Barcelona colts love scoring at El Sadar

Gonzalez, along with Ezzalzouli, was on target for Barcelona

There's something about Osasuna's home ground El Sadar that spurs Barcelona's young players on.

Ansu Fati opened his La Liga account at El Sadar in August 2019. Meanwhile, Ilaix Moriba bagged his first senior goal for Barcelona at the same venue back in March this year.

Now, two more players have joined the unique trend.

Nico Gonzalez and Abde Ezzalzouli both clinched their first league goals at the venue last night. It was also the second time that two players under 20 were on target for Barcelona.

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#4 Ezzalzouli steals the show

Ezzalzouli scored a sublime goal

On a night when Barcelona were running desperately short of attacking options, Abde Ezzalzouli stepped to the plate and delivered an eye-catching performance.

The youngster was in fact their main threat all night. He was buzzing around the field like a drop of fat on a hot plate with his insane dribbling skills and Terrier-like pressing.

He topped it all off with a sublime goal to give Barcelona the lead for the second time in the match. He latched onto a cross from Ousmane Dembele with a nonchalant first-time volley to open his La Liga account.

The 19-year-old convincingly outshined the Frenchman as well as Luuk de Jong, the relatively senior attackers who started for Barcelona in the match.

#3 Barcelona no longer a threat to Osasuna?

Osasuna are increasingly becoming a menace to Barcelona

For the third time in their last five clashes with Barcelona, Osasuna have avoided a defeat, as much as they had in the previous 17.

In the 2019-20 season, Los Rojillos managed to secure four points against them. They played out a 2-2 draw at El Sadar followed by a stunning 2-1 victory at Camp Nou.

After losing both their league clashes last campaign, the Pamplona outfit took points off them again last night.

Osasuna used to be one of Barcelona's favorite punching bags. But they are turning the tide here as they no longer fear the mighty side.

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#2 Is Luuk de Jong the worst signing of the season?

It's still too early to give a verdict, but at this rate, Luuk de Jong might indeed end up being the worst signing of the season in La Liga.

Signed on loan from Sevilla on deadline day in a desperate move by Barcelona, the Dutchman is yet to impress for the new club.

In fact, he's been an absolute disaster so far. De Jong has looked completely anonymous almost every time he has been on the field for Barcelona, including in this match. He has scored a solitary goal this season in 11 appearances.

He played full 90 minutes for the first time in what was a great chance for him to stake a claim to a starting spot. But to say he blew it would be an understatement.

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#1 A tough few days for Xavi

FC Barcelona v Real Betis - La Liga Santander

Xavi must have truly understood the gravity of the task at hand after everything he saw in the last 10 days.

During that period, Barcelona lost 1-0 to Real Betis before getting hammered 3-0 by Bayern Munich again in the Champions League. It also confirmed their first group-stage exit from the competition in 21 years.

Now, if that wasn't enough already, they were held to a draw in the 86th minute by Osasuna.

Xavi's return to the club brought plenty of optimism but it's now fading really fast, with the Spaniard enduring a baptism of fire.

While the side is currently riddled with injuries, the form of many big names at the club isn't up to scratch either.

Barcelona are an incoherent mess right now and it will be interesting to see how Xavi pulls them out of it.