MY ACCOUNT
Xavi has told Barcelona they have “five finals” to play as they attempt to banish their April blues and make sure of a Champions League place.
A third consecutive home defeat has left second-placed Barcelona 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, who should wrap up the LaLiga title on Saturday, needing just to avoid defeat against Espanyol to make sure.
While Barcelona’s great rivals get set to celebrate, there is significant work to do for coach Xavi after his Blaugrana team were beaten 1-0 at home by Rayo Vallecano, who completed a league double over the Catalan giants.
Andoni Iraola became the first manager to beat Barcelona home and away in his first season in LaLiga since Quique Hernandez did so at Hercules in the 1996-97 season.
Alvaro Garcia scored with the only shot on target that Vallecano managed all night, and with a little luck Barcelona would have enjoyed a better outcome, but they are all out of luck just now.
A Europa League loss to Eintracht Frankfurt and LaLiga defeats to Cadiz and now Vallecano have been unexpected setbacks for a team who were on an immense high five weeks ago when they spanked Real Madrid 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Assessing the Vallecano setback and its impact, Xavi said: “I don’t think it’s a lack of personality on the part of the team. There are emergencies at the club, both football-wise and financially. It’s a difficult situation and we have to face it.
“Now it’s time to rest, disconnect and in the middle of the week we will get back on and prepare for the Mallorca game. We have five finals remaining, we’ve complicated it for ourselves.”
Barcelona should still achieve a top-four finish, given they remain six points clear of fifth-placed Real Betis, but Xavi wants more than to see his side stumble over the line.
Their objective is to finish the season strongly and build momentum for the next campaign, and performances such as Sunday’s disrupt the significant progress that has been made since Xavi’s appointment in November.
Speaking to Movistar LaLiga, Xavi said: “In the first half we were not good, but in the second we improved, and the feeling is that we deserved much more. We had shots from all sides, from outside [the penalty area], from inside. But it didn’t want to go in.
“In the first half it wasn’t us, we didn’t have the personality that we had to have in the game. Everything has been complicated for us today. It was a slow game, with interruptions.”
He said Barcelona needed to show greater desire, and pointed to how Sunday’s visitors capitalised on their big moment in front of goal.
The three shots that Rayo Vallecano attempted ranked as their lowest total in a LaLiga game this season.
“Rayo had one and a half chances,” Xavi said. “We return to the issue of effectiveness.
“We are in a difficult situation. We are still in the Champions League places but we have complicated it for ourselves because if we had beaten Cadiz and Rayo it would have almost given us qualification for the Champions League.”
