Madrid, Sep 17 (DPA) Stumbling Barcelona suffered another setback when they were held to a goalless draw at hard-working Osasuna.
Barcelona’s second goalless away draw – the first was in their season’s debut match in Santander – leaves them with just five points from three games in joint fifth place.
Barca are one point behind Sevilla, Valencia and Villarreal and four behind runaway leaders Real Madrid.
Just as in Santander, Barca were indolent, ponderous and predictable Sunday, and without spark in attack. Many of their stars looked weary after a week of international duty.
Barca’s 59-percent possession led to only two chances in Pamplona. They fell to Deco and Thierry Henry, who were both slow to react.
Coach Frank Rijkaard gave debuts to teenage forwards Giovani dos Santos and Bojan Krkic.
“We didn’t have much change of speed tonight,” said midfielder Xavi Hernandez. “We still need to improve in several things.”
Earlier Sunday, Sevilla had thrashed Recreativo Huelva 4-1 with two goals each from Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Frederic Kanoute.
Villarreal, for their part, won 1-0 at Mallorca thanks to a late goal from Nihat Kahveci.
In joint fifth place, level on five points with Barca, are Real Murcia and Racing Santander.
Murcia battled out a well-deserved 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid, who had taken an early lead through Sergio Aguero. Veteran Francisco Gallardo scored Murcia’s late equaliser.
Another veteran who scored Sunday was Pedro Munitis, who put away the only goal for Santander at home to bottom team Levante.
Also Sunday, an early goal from Mexican midfielder Andres Guardado was enough for Deportivo Coruna against Betis, while Espanyol beat Getafe 1-0 on a late goal from youngster Jonathan Soriano.