Barca held as distressed Aguero leaves early
Barcelona's struggles continued on Sunday (AEDT) as it was held to a 1-1 draw by Deportivo Alaves at Camp Nou in its first game since the dismissal of coach Ronald Koeman.
Under the temporary stewardship of Sergi Barjuan, Memphis Depay opened the scoring early in the second half as the hosts sought to overcome consecutive LaLiga losses.
But the Blaugrana were pegged back almost immediately as Luis Rioja netted a superb equaliser for the visitors.
Another concern for Barca saw a distressed Sergio Aguero forced off before half-time on his first home LaLiga start, clutching his chest in anguish after collapsing off the ball.
Barcelona had won eight of its nine previous meetings with Alaves and quickly stamped its authority in possession.
It went close to breaking the deadlock when Eric Garcia's header was brilliantly clawed away by Antonio Sivera, while an unmarked Edgar Mendez nodded Ruben Duarte's deep free-kick just wide at the other end.
Concerns grew for the hosts when Aguero was forced to leave the field before the break and rushed to hospital before the match had finished.
The Argentina international went down clutching his chest and appeared to be in some discomfort when tended to by the medical team, but was able to get to his feet and walk from the field.
Nevertheless, Barca took the lead in emphatic fashion four minutes after the restart; Depay bending a tremendous 25-yard effort into the far corner for his fifth goal of the season.
But the visitors hit back within three minutes; Rioja playing a sparkling one-two with Joselu before rounding Marc-Andre ter Stegen and slotting into the empty net.
Barca looked to restore its advantage and Sivera produced smart saves to deny Philippe Coutinho and Depay, who also hit the post after a wonderful individual run by Gavi.
But despite dominating possession, the hosts were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
