Xavi Hernández
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández refused to throw in the towel in LaLiga despite Sunday’s 3-3 draw against Granada which left his side 10 points adrift of leaders Real Madrid.
Lamine Yamal opened the scoring at the Olympic Stadium but, in another performance marked by comical defending, Barça found themselves 2-1 and 3-2 down against second-bottom Granada.
Yamal’s second goal of the night earned Barça a point, but the 16-year-old’s brace could not prevent the Catalan side dropping two more points in the title race.
“LaLiga was already difficult and now even more so with more points gone,” Xavi said in the post-game news conference.
“It’s a big gap to Madrid and five now to [second placed] Girona, but we are not going to throw the towel in.
“What we have to do is not slip up anymore. We had chances to kill the game and I think we have gifted Granada goals when there was little danger. The team had faith, courage and desire, but it wasn’t enough. It makes things even more difficult.”
Barça’s season has been underpinned by bad defending. Ricard Sánchez and Facundo Pellestri gave Granada the lead, with Robert Lewandowski levelling before Ignasi Miquel restored the visitor’s advantage.
This was the second time in a month the Blaugrana have scored three at home and failed to win after losing 5-3 to Villarreal in January.
They have now conceded 24 goals in 11 games in all competitions in 2024, more than any other side in Europe’s top five leagues.
“We gave away too much defensively,” Xavi added. “We conceded three goals against Villarreal; then again today. That makes it difficult to win anything.
“We have to minimise the amount of mistakes. It’s the same defensive errors that have marked the season. It was the same in the draw at Granada earlier in the campaign.”