Barcelona suffered a crushing blow on Sunday night, as they were beaten by Girona 4-2 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, but as much for the result as the fact they were outplayed. That was the general consensus, but Xavi Hernandez did not see it the same way.
After the match, Xavi told DAZN (via MD), that this was a Barcelona side still in construction, something that pricked many an ear up, given he has been in charge, for two years now.
“It is a hard blow because today we had high hopes of being one point behind Girona and two behind Madrid. Now we are seven behind Girona and five behind Madrid and tied with Atlettico, with them with one game less. This is our reality. This is a Barca under construction. I remain positive, I trust the team, but we have an extraordinary opponent and today the coin came up tails, but it could have come out heads. You have to continue along the path and not hesitate. Today is not a bad game, but we took a hit. We have to keep working, there is no other option. Last year we were hit hard, but in the end we won two titles.”
While Barcelona did have chances, most analysts concluded that they had not played well, including Sporting Director Deco. Xavi put the match down to effectiveness though.
“Girona deserve a lot of credit for what they are doing. They are leading the standings and have a seven-point advantage over us. Very well deserved. I think the work that both Michel and the Girona players are doing is spectacular. Congratulations to them. The match was even, it was decided by details. If Barca wins today we would also have said that it would have been fair, I think we have shot 31 times. We lacked effectiveness and perhaps the errors in defence have taken their toll on us. Even at the end in desperation we had the 3-3 chance. They have an idea similar to what we are looking for.”
It was not just Deco that was disappointed with the performance, and very much in opposition to Xavi’s discourse. Diario AS report that Frenkie de Jong was not pleased with the performance, and recall that a similar contrast was notable following defeat in El Clasico. Ilkay Gundogan said ‘he did not come to Barcelona to lose games like this’, but after the match Xavi said he was pleased with the performance, and thought Barcelona should have one.
Meanwhile Joan Fontes also called it on Sunday that this week there would be reports of players not clicking with Xavi and his coaching staff, something which appears to be the case.
While Xavi in all probability has until the end of the season to fix things, and ultimately overhaul the gap to Girona and Real Madrid, he is no longer being given the benefit of the doubt in the same way that he was in the past. The criticism of his setup and ideas continues to grow from frequent observers.