Barcelona Surrender La Liga Title to Real Madrid With Dire 2-1 Defeat to Osasuna

Barcelona surrendered their La Liga title to Real Madrid on Thursday night, falling to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against ten-men Osasuna.

Prior to kick off, Quique Setien's side knew that only a victory and Real failing to win would be enough to take the title race to the final day. They did not do enough with Osasuna grabbing a last gasp winner to end the hosts' hopes of defending their domestic crown.

Going into the game Barcelona boasted a dominant record over their visitors, winning their last six meetings 24-4 on aggregate.

Despite this, the visitors took a shock lead in the 16th minute with Pervis Estupinan crossing to an unmark Jose Arnaiz who produced a bobbling finish past Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The goal saw Barça's defensive problems rear their ugly head once again with Nelson Semedo and Gerard Pique both culpable.

The hosts looked shell shocked and struggled to respond in the aftermath. Eventually, Setien's side found a foothold in the game with Lionel Messi striking the bar with a wicked free kick and Osasuna forced into some last ditched defending.

Barça came out all guns blazing after the break and Martin Braithwaite had the ball in the back of the net inside two minutes - only for the linesman to rule it out for offside.

As has been the case many times this season, it would be Messi who would resurrect Blaugrana, floating a sumptuous free kick past Sergio Herrera to level the scores on the hour mark. Luis Suarez then thought he'd scored an even better goal, only for VAR to chalk off his innovative volley for handball.

Osasuna were then reduced to ten men but that did not stop them scoring a winner in the 93rd minute. With Barça chasing the game in the closing stages, they broke forward in second half stoppage time with Roberto Torres finishing off a fine counter attack to secure an unlikely win.

Barcelona must now win the Champions League to avoid a trophyless season. They face Napoli in August in the second leg of the pair's round of 16 with the scores level at 1-1 on aggregate. Even if they are victorious in Europe, manager Setien is unlikely to be at the helm next season as pressure continues to mount on the former Real Betis boss.