Xavi’s FC Barcelona is still sick!

The weeks go by and look the same for FC Barcelona at the moment. Plagued by doubts for several meetings now, the Catalan club did not show a better face this Saturday on the lawn of Rayo Vallecano (1-1). Apathetic throughout the match, the Catalans had to count on an own goal from Florian Lejeune to grab an unexpected point given their performance. So, this draw clearly does not do their business from an accounting point of view. Third in La Liga, the Camp Nou residents could be relegated six points behind their neighbor Girona and four behind Real Madrid at the end of this 14th day of La Liga.

A new setback which confirms Barcelona’s struggles. Beaten twice in the last five meetings, during the Clasico (1-2) and against Shakhtar Donetsk (0-1), Xavi’s flock were thus hooked this Saturday in Madrid while a defeat seemed to be looming during 82 minutes of play. A fragile record in recent weeks which can be explained by several absences of mark. While Marc-André Ter Stegen was absent this Saturday, Gavi will be absent for the rest of the season. Even if the returns of Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo should do the greatest good, the absence of the young 19-year-old attacking midfielder will have to be compensated for during the next transfer window and the culés leaders are already tackling the task.

A tight schedule with very little certainty

And Barça will have to quickly rectify the situation otherwise it will have to catch up which could prove difficult to catch up. The next deadlines will also be raised to say the least. While they will play for their European future against Porto this Tuesday (9 p.m.), Robert Lewandowski’s teammates will have to win so as not to see the Portuguese move ahead of them in the standings and Shakhtar Donetsk come back up to par. The start of December will also be quite busy for Barça with matches against Atlético Madrid and Girona in the league before a trip which could be crucial to Antwerp for the last day of the Champions League.

Despite the difficulties displayed by his team and the sequence of events which promises to be complicated, Xavi did not want to give in to panic at the end of the meeting: “We can turn this around. There is still time. We must criticize ourselves and improve ourselves. We must be much closer to the level than in the second half. In the second half we were very good. Having won La Liga and the Super Cup last year subconsciously lowers your mentality and that is what should not be allowed» Despite the storm, Captain Xavi seems calm and it is the entire FC Barcelona community who hopes that the Catalan ship does not capsize.