Almeria edged out Barcelona at home to hand the La Liga leaders only their second loss of the season and give a major boost to Real Madrid’s chances of catching up with the leaders.
Barcelona could have moved 10 points clear at the top with a win but failed to answer El Bilal Toure’s first-half goal.
The Catalans, who were on an 18-match unbeaten streak, have now lost two games in a row after Manchester United eliminated them from Europa League before this loss to Almeria.
It was perhaps the United loss which was playing on their minds as they failed to get going against their opponents.
Their lacklustre start allowed the hosts to fire in the opening goal after just 24 minutes through Toure who raced on to a pass from Luis Suarez before unleashing a strike past Marc-André ter Stegen.
It was only the 8th goal Barca’s defence has conceded this season.
The goal did not wake the visitors up despite having more than 70% of the possession.
Xavi made five changes after the break to spur his side on but Almeria’s defence held firm against the league’s top scorer in Robert Lewandowski.
It was the hosts instead who could have increased their lead but Leo Baptistao was denied by ter Stegen before Rodrigo Ely missed a sitter from close-range to keep the scoreline respectable.
Barcelona remains top of the league with 57 points, seven ahead of Real Madrid while Almeria sits 15th with 25 points, two above safety.
