FC Barcelona struck a nice blow last night. A week after its defeat in the Clasico, the team coached by Xavi Hernandez had a difficult trip to negotiate, on the pitch of Real Sociedad, a team in form and particularly difficult to negotiate. The Catalans were also dominated for a huge part of the match, and it was a helmet hit from Ronald Araujo at the very end of the match which gave the Barcelonans a rather unexpected victory.
This goal from the Uruguayan allows the Blaugranas not to be dropped by Girona in the La Liga standings – Barça is now 4 points behind – while Real Madrid faces Rayo Vallecano this Sunday evening. On paper, it is therefore a very good operation. But as indicated Marca, Xavi has it bad. The Catalan coach is not happy with the last two performances of his troops.
General league table
|
#
|
Team
|
Pts
|
J
|
DIF
|
G
|
NOT
|
D
|
BP
|
B.C.
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
|
31 |
12 |
14 |
10 |
1 |
1 |
29 |
15 |
|
2 |
|
28 |
11 |
15 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
23 |
8 |
|
3 |
|
27 |
12 |
12 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
24 |
12 |
|
4 |
|
25 |
11 |
15 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
26 |
11 |
|
5 |
|
20 |
12 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
2 |
16 |
15 |
See the full ranking
Xavi was mad with rage on Saturday
The media indicates that this defeat against the sworn enemy and this close success against the Basque team invite reflection and self-criticism on the Barça side. Xavi is particularly disappointed by the lack of intensity of his men during this match at Anoeta, by the pressing which at no time prevented Real Sociedad from progressing, as well as by some individual errors which are becoming too frequent. For him, no player was at the level, and he also noticed certain players in decline, like João Cancelo or João Félix, who had nevertheless started well.
An annoyance that we could see at the press conference, with quite strong statements. “We haven’t been good, we have to be self-critical. We didn’t play well, that’s not the way. We lacked intensity, and I’m not satisfied with the result. The first 20 or 25 minutes are unacceptable. At halftime, I asked that if anyone was tired, to raise their hands, because what I saw was unacceptable. La Real played better than us. They deserved better”, said the coach, very angry. The gang of Gavi and Lewandowski know what they have to do…
