Xavi laments over two key absences after Girona draw: “Few footballers in the world have this”

Barcelona squandered a great chance to stretch their lead at the top of the league to 15 points as they were held to a goalless draw by local rivals Girona at Spotify Camp Nou on Monday night.

It was a dull performance from the Blaugrana who once again seemed to be missing the cutting edge in the final third of the pitch. However, given their position at the top, one point from the game is not all too bad.

The result means that Barcelona are now 13 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who lost to Villarreal over the weekend.

Speaking after the match, manager Xavi Hernandez expressed his frustration at not getting all three points, but admitted that Girona made it very tough for Barcelona.

“Girona were fighting for their life on the pitch. It’s frustrating, but I think we played well. We didn’t put away our chances and we have an efficiency problem,” he said.

Touching on what needs to improve, Xavi added: “We have to criticize ourselves and create more chances, but the lack of effectiveness affected us.”

The 43-year-old tactician then went on to insist that the La Liga title remains the team’s ultimate goal and they remain in a solid position to win it.

“Our goal is to win La Liga and we’re in a very good position to do so. Some people see it differently, but we will value this league title so much,” he said.

Xavi also touched upon the fact that Barcelona fans had once again chanted Lionel Messi’s name during the game, after having done so in the Real Madrid match last week as well. But he refused to get drawn into speculations over the PSG star’s possible return, saying:

“I see that the people are very excited about Messi’s possible return, as they chanted his name for two matches in a row now. We’re focused on winning La Liga right now. After that, we’ll see what happens.”

Xavi also fired a shot at detractors who are claiming that the league had dropped in quality this season as he said:

“I was watching a television program earlier today. They were saying that La Liga is cheap, and that makes me mad. The club is trying to win it, and I don’t like listening to that.”

“They are saying that this is the worst version of La Liga, which is not true, and hurts us. I feel like whenever Barça wins something, people discredit it. If we win the league, we will celebrate it like we deserve to.”

Touching upon how the absences of Frenkie de Jong and Pedri were affecting the team, Xavi added:

“De Jong and Pedri always choose the best pass option during matches. They go out of the ordinary to improve the game. Few footballers in the world have this. However, there are no excuses. We should have won today.”

Up next for Barcelona will be an away game against Getafe on Sunday afternoon.

Source: BarçaTV+