TDespite the goalless draw against Girona and another poor performance by top scorer Robert Lewandowski, Barça coach Xavi Hernández is relaxed in the final phase of the Spanish championship. “I find it incredible to speak of a mini-crisis when we are 13 points ahead of Real Madrid and 15 ahead of Atlético,” said the 43-year-old FC Barcelona coach after the 0-0 draw on Monday evening.
However, in view of the overwhelming superiority of his team, he admitted: “I’m upset, embarrassed, annoyed. We should have won and we didn’t.” After the bitter defeat against Real Madrid (0:4) in the semifinals of the Spanish cup competition last Wednesday, it was the second winless game in a row. And for the first time this season, the Catalans failed to score in two consecutive games.
“Don’t worry about Lewandowski”
The two-time world footballer Lewandowski remained weak again, which brought him media criticism again. The As newspaper wrote that the striker had played very poorly and questioned why Barcelona had signed the 34-year-old until 2026. Xavi, meanwhile, stood behind his player. “I’m not worried about Lewandowski,” said the former Spanish world and European champion. You have to practice self-criticism: The effectiveness at the front was too bad and the brilliance was missing.
After the gossip against Real, Lewandowski had to put up with a lot of ridicule in the Spanish press. In his native Poland, too, the star is being viewed increasingly critically by the media. Before the World Cup in Qatar, the 34-year-old had scored 13 goals in 14 league games, after the winter break there are only four goals in nine league games. He scored three of the four goals against bottom-placed FC Elche and FC Cadiz, also below.
Positive at the end of Easter Monday: Chaser Real Madrid had previously lost 2-3 at home to FC Villarreal on Saturday, so that Barcelona around national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen even increased their lead over the champions after the 28th matchday of the Primera División gained a point. “The other reading is that we are 13 points ahead of Real. We would all have signed that in October or at the beginning of the season,” said Xavi.
