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FC Barcelona loses in Primera División: criticism from coach Xavi

Trainer Xavi didn’t look for excuses. “No apology. We played really badly,” said the former professional and current coach of FC Barcelona and attested to his team around center forward Robert Lewandowski and the German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen after the 0: 1 (0: 1) at Andalusian team UD, threatened with relegation Almería’s worst performance this season.

The Catalan newspaper Sport complained on Monday on page one: “Barca gives new life to Real Madrid”. And in Madrid everyone was happy – and also mocked the opponent: “Barca is afraid,” headlined the capital’s newspaper Marca.

“It’s a shame, we had a great opportunity,” emphasized the 43-year-old. Or as the sports newspaper “As” put it: “The front runner has a dizzy spell, Real is grinning.” Because instead of rushing the royal team by ten points on the 23rd match day of the Spanish football championship, Real made it in despite their own draw on Saturday Outnumbered Atlético by one point.

Out in the Europa League

The arch-rivals are now separated by seven points. “We could have gotten a bigger advantage in the league, but that didn’t work out,” said Eric García. The Spanish media, meanwhile, rejoiced at the renewed tension in the title fight. In LaLiga, the Catalans lost the first leg against Real last October in the capital 3-1. It was also FC Barcelona’s only defeat in the league until the 24th-minute goal from El Bilal Touré in Almería.

The next mood dampener after the end of the Europa League against Manchester United comes at the worst possible time for FC Barcelona. There would be some tricky games ahead of them, Eric García said. Especially next Thursday when Barça have to play the semi-final first leg of the Copa de Rey at Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski believed in a successful season with FC Barcelona despite being eliminated in the second round of the Europa League. “We are disappointed, but we can still win titles this season,” wrote the 34-year-old on Instagram. Barcelona were eliminated from the European Cup after a 2-1 draw in Manchester on Thursday.

“We fought until the last minute but unfortunately that wasn’t enough tonight,” wrote Lewandowski, who even put Barça ahead against United with a converted penalty but will now be sidelined with a hamstring injury; The club did not initially announce the possible length of the downtime this Monday. Coach Xavi Hernández had also encouraged his team after the disappointment. “We have to be self-critical and try again next year and get stronger,” said the 43-year-old after leaving Europe.

The Spanish media, on the other hand, were harsh on the team. “Europe is a size too big for Barcelona. Even after 153 million euros for new players, the team around coach Xavi Hernández is not able to gain importance in international competition,” commented Marca on Friday. “From disaster to disaster,” wrote Sport. Previously, the Catalans had already missed the round of 16 in the group stage of the Champions League behind Bayern and Inter Milan.

The Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo nevertheless praised the fighting spirit of the team around national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen: “A new setback on the European stage, but this time with heads held high,” wrote the paper. Barça failed “honorably”. The defeat also hurts the traditional club financially. The newspaper AS calculated that the club lost 14.4 million in income as a result. Now there are also problems in the Spanish league.

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