"We have made our lives complicated" - Xavi speaks about Barcelona's top 4 hopes after defeat against Rayo Vallecano
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez believes his side have made things difficult for themselves with their recent displays.
The Blaugrana suffered their third loss in four matches last night (April 24) in their La Liga encounter against Rayo Vallecano. Xavi's side did have a few chances, but they couldn't create many clear-cut opportunities and ultimately fell to a 1-0 defeat.
Speaking after the match, Xavi admitted that his team are now in a "tough situation." He said (as quoted by Barca Blaugranes):
“We tried everything. We are now in a tough situation. We are still in the top four but we have made our lives complicated. We should have beaten Cadiz and if we had won here too then we would have a top four finish almost guaranteed.”
The Spaniard added that he felt his team deserved more against Rayo Vallecano. However, he also believes they weren't at their best to start the game:
“I think we deserved a lot more, we weren’t ourselves in the first half, didn’t show personality. We showed a bit more in the second half, we tried, changed formation, we tried to go out wide, in the middle, and the ball just did not want to go in.”
"We need to keep going — we have five finals left"
— Xavi after #BarçaRayo https://t.co/SRKV4FcWBy
Xavi went on to draw parallels between their most recent match and the game they lost on April 18 against Cadiz:
“It was very similar to the game against Cadiz and that’s the reality we are going through. Everyone is fighting for different things in La Liga. We have to accept it and show the same desire as Rayo. I think we deserved a lot more.”
Barcelona have lost three successive matches at home in a season for the first time ever
The loss against Vallecano meant Barcelona broke an unflattering personal record. It meant they suffered three successive home defeats in a single season for the first time in their history.
They first fell 3-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League quarterfinal to exit the tournament. This has been compounded by identical 1-0 reverses in La Liga against Cadiz and now Rayo Vallecano.
Barcelona LOSE three straight home matches in the same season for the FIRST TIME EVER 🤯 https://t.co/5R1YQszE5m
Despite their defeat against Rayo Vallecano last night, the Catalans are still second in the league standings with 63 points from 33 matches. They are level with third-placed Sevilla but will need to start picking up wins again if they are to finish second.
Barcelona will get a chance to turn around their recent rut when they take on RCD Mallorca at home on Sunday (May 1).