Barcelona: If ever there was something such as a positive-negative in football, Granada might just have found it at the Camp Nou on Saturday.

Arriving in Barcelona, Lucas Alcaraz’s side will have known that on their last 22 trips to play the Blaugrana, they had lost all 22. In 11 of the last 14 games between the pair in Catalonia, the visitors had failed to score and in the last three particularly, the 4-0, 6-0 and 4-0 results were as comprehensive a defeat as the scoreline suggests.

Yes, the Andalusians lost again but the manner of defeat is likely to have led to a school of thought that the good times are only just around the corner again.

Alcaraz is well thought of at Granada and is in his third stint there as manager. He prefers to play an attacking style whether or not that brings heavy defeats, so it was a little surprising that he reverted to an ultra defensive 5-4-1 formation on Saturday.

Already three points adrift in the league, without a win and with the worst defensive record, his cautious approach will have been anathema to his usual practice but he is experienced enough to know that another big loss will have hurt his players immeasurably.

Might Pep Guardiola be tempted to take note for Manchester City on Tuesday? Knowing him, almost certainly not — but some element of caution may benefit his side after Manchester City’s 4-0 hammering in Camp Nou.

Grenada can walk away with their heads high knowing that, whilst they didn’t really ever look like scoring themselves, they were able to contain Barcelona and the fabled MSN with relative ease.

Although all three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez had chances, none were able to take them and that was more down to the excellence in defence of the visitors than it was of the profligacy of Barca’s attacking trio. Indeed, ex-Barca B player and now captain of Granada, David Lomban, was peerless on the night.

Luis Enrique was quoted post-match as suggesting that not every game can be won by a big margin and he’s right of course. However, that’s just a semi-positive spin on a performance that fell well below the standards expected of a Barcelona side chock-full of such glittering talent.

Samuel Umtiti is exempt from any criticism, the Frenchman settling into his defensive role unbelievably quickly after a summer move from Lyon. Technical director Robert Fernandez has suggested his adaptation is “too quick” but with 116 touches on the night — the most of any defender in La Liga this season — it’s clear Umtiti is a natural fit at the back alongside Gerard Pique.

In any event, once the dust settles Barca will pick over the bones of victory whilst Granada will, in all likelihood, approach training in a fairly upbeat frame of mind.

Might this even be the first time that the winning team have more questions to answer than the vanquished?