Deportivo Alavés stunned newly crowned La Liga champions FC Barcelona with a 1-0 upset victory on Wednesday night. The defeat officially kills Barcelona’s ambition to reach a historic 100-point season. Manager Hansi Flick heavily rotated his squad just days after securing the league title in Sunday’s El Clásico against Real Madrid. That championship hangover proved incredibly costly at the Estadio de Mendizorroza.
Ibrahim Diabate delivered the fatal blow in first-half stoppage time. The Alavés striker outmuscled Marc Bernal during a chaotic corner kick scramble to find the back of the net. This decisive strike fundamentally shifted the lower table survival dynamics. According to a match recap from beIN SPORTS, the victory catapulted Alavés out of the relegation zone and up to 15th place with 40 points, while highlighting the disjointed nature of Flick’s eight starting lineup changes.
Barcelona looked entirely flat. The Catalan giants failed to mount a serious comeback in the second half. The loss shatters two massive club streaks. Barcelona had won 11 consecutive matches before arriving in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Even more shocking is the offensive shutout. As detailed by the Associated Press, the 1-0 result snaps an incredible 56-game active streak of Barcelona scoring at least one goal in domestic competitions.
Alavés now has breathing room in their bitter fight to stay in the top flight. Their organized defensive performance looked drastically improved compared to earlier in the season, proving they are no longer the same vulnerable squad seen during a previous Real Madrid vs Alavés matchup.
What the 100-Point Failure Means for the Mourinho and Vilanova Legacies
With Wednesday’s defeat, the mathematical ceiling for Barcelona’s season officially falls short of triple digits. The 100-point benchmark remains one of the most exclusive clubs in modern European football. Only two teams in La Liga history have ever achieved it. José Mourinho’s 2011–12 Real Madrid squad set the standard, and Tito Vilanova’s 2012–13 Barcelona team immediately matched it the following year.
Flick’s current squad dominated the league with ruthless efficiency all year. However, this late-season stumble actively protects the historical aura of those earlier legendary rosters. The difficulty of maintaining absolute focus after a title is mathematically secured remains the ultimate hurdle in Spanish football.