The unpredictable Englishman suffered his first career defeat in May when Usyk won by split decision to become the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era
sports2 days ago
La Liga leaders Barcelona tumbled to an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at Almeria on Sunday, failing to capitalise on Real Madrid's derby draw with Atletico to extend their advantage.
El Bilal Toure's fine first half strike split the teams and earned Almeria their first ever victory over Barca, inflicting only the second defeat of the league campaign on the Catalans.
Xavi Hernandez's side still have a seven-point lead over champions Madrid, but their morale took a further blow following their midweek Europa League exit against Manchester United.
Barca face Madrid in a Clasico Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday at the Santiago Bernabeu, with their vulnerabilities starting to show.
Victory over Almeria would have stretched their advantage in the title race to double figures, as they bid to win La Liga for the first time since 2019, but they could not capitalise on Madrid's 1-1 draw on Saturday against Atletico.
Carlo Ancelotti's side beat Barcelona in the league in October and Almeria ended Barca's subsequent 13-game unbeaten league run.
Xavi, already without injured trio Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Ansu Fati, took a risk and rotated heavily, with Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde, Raphinha and Alejandro Balde dropping out.
The Barcelona line-up lacked creativity on paper and so it proved, as they struggled to forge any chances of note in the first half at the Power Horse Stadium.
The lowly hosts, starting the game 19th with just one victory in their prior eight league games, were on top in the first half and went ahead through Toure's emphatic finish.
The Mali international cushioned a long ball into striker Luis Suarez's path, before spinning and breaking forward at pace.
Suarez lofted a pass over Andreas Christensen and Toure ran on to it, lashing an effort past Marc-Andre ter Stegen and in off the crossbar.
It was only the eighth league goal Barcelona have condeded this season, stopping Ter Stegen adding to his impressive tally of 17 clean sheets.
Xavi took action at half-time, replacing the ineffective Franck Kessie with Raphinha, reverting to a more traditional 4-3-3.
The coach was booked in the second half for arguing, while Gavi and Raphinha also saw yellow cards, with all three now suspended for Valencia's visit to Camp Nou next Sunday.
Marcos Alonso did well to block a powerful Suarez strike in the second half as Rubi's Almeria sought to double their lead.
The hosts kept La Liga top scorer Robert Lewandowski quiet at the other end, with the Polish striker and his team-mates unable to trouble Almeria goalkeeper Fernando Martinez.
Defender Araujo, thrown on by Xavi in desperation, directed a header inches wide of the far post but that was as close as Barcelona came.
Ter Stegen made a brilliant save to deny Adrian Embarba on the counter and Almeria defended bravely to see out an historic victory.
ALSO READ:
The unpredictable Englishman suffered his first career defeat in May when Usyk won by split decision to become the first undisputed champion of the four-belt era
sports2 days ago
The team from Portugal also claimed the championship title after a hard-fought four-round season
sports2 days ago
Tristan Jass and Jesser, who continue to captivate millions worldwide with their innovative content, encourage young basketball enthusiasts in the Middle East to come forward and create content
sports2 days ago
Fresh off his birthday, the teenager delivers consistency to lead the Boys 15-18 Elite Division, while Russia's Ailsa Molokanova dominates the Girls 15-18 field
sports2 days ago
Terry Fox launched an epic run on a prosthetic leg in 1980 across Canada to raise money and awareness for cancer research
sports3 days ago
With new faces participating this year, the teams have been reshuffled to make the league more thrilling than ever
sports3 days ago
Spain win the mixed team event in trials
sports3 days ago
Antetokounmpo scored 26 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and dished 10 assists and to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Cup title
sports3 days ago