‘DISASTER!’: Spanish press slam Barcelona after third home defeat in a row and accuse the referee of ‘seriously harming’ the game against Rayo Vallecano… as Xavi admits he made a ‘mistake’ in failing to motivate his players
Spanish press have described Barcelona as a ‘disaster’ after the Catalan outfit fell to a 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano at the Nou Camp on Sunday evening.
Alvaro Garcia scored the only goal of the game in just the seventh minute and Xavi’s team could not find an equaliser as Gavi hit the crossbar and Ousmane Dembele saw an effort cleared off the line.
Barca have now lost three consecutive home matches in a single season for the first time in their history, having also fallen to Eintracht Frankfurt and Cadiz.
Barcelona fell to a third consecutive defeat at the Nou Camp against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday
The result also means that Real Madrid can confirm their 35th LaLiga title if they avoid defeat against Espanyol on Saturday.
The front page of Monday’s Sport simply read ‘DISASTER!’ as it encapsulated the mood at the Nou Camp.
The paper also accused the referee of ‘seriously harming’ the match against Rayo, after he did not award a penalty to Barca in the closing stages.
Sport slammed Barcelona as a ‘disaster’ after their defeat and also criticised the referee
Barca wanted a penalty late on when Gavi was brought down in the box by Alejandro Catena
Gavi was brought down in the box by Alejandro Catena in the 89th minute, but Isidro Diaz de Mera waved away calls for a spot-kick and even showed a yellow card to Dembele as he protested.
Home fans whistled at the referee for the rest of the contest and could be heard chanting ‘You’re so bad, referee you’re so bad. You’re so bad!’.
After the match, Xavi took the blame for his side’s defeat as he admitted that he failed to motivate the players enough.
‘Mistakes cannot be repeated,’ he said. ‘We must be self-critical. It’s our reality. We have to match the desire, the desire of our rival.
‘We were excited about a good run, with the good games in the Europa League. Now, it is not very motivating to fight for second place for a club like Barca, but we have to improve.
Xavi accepted the blame for the defeat as he admitted that he failed to motivate his players
Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets was frustrated as the team’s poor home form continued
‘We have to go into the games better. In the first half, we were not good. In the second better. We tried everything but the situation is difficult. I recognise as a coach that I made a mistake in not motivating them.’
Meanwhile, captain Sergio Busquets shared his frustrations at another Nou Camp defeat and shipping an early goal.
‘Our form is costing us a lot at home, we concede goals very quickly, we’re behind and everything is more difficult,’ he said.
‘When you’re not effective in either area, it costs us twice as much.’
