(Football news) After a disappointing loss against Manchester United that knocked them out of the Europa League, Barcelona suffered a shock defeat at Almeria. Keeping in mind the United game and the upcoming El Clasico, Xavi benched the likes of Raphinha, Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde. On the other hand Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Ansu Fati were out with injuries. Almeria scored the only goal of the match in the 24th minute as Luis Suarez assisted El Bilal Toure. It was the first clear chance of the match and the home side scored an invaluable goal.

Almeria had a couple of chances to double their lead but Barcelona despite having a lot of possession didn’t have a single shot on target. Xavi brought on Raphinha at half time to try and change the game. The Brazilian did improve the team but Barcelona could not get the equaliser. Ronald Araujo was playing as a striker during the last minutes but the score remained 1-0. The pattern with Xavi’s team is the same as in when they need a goal they resort to crosses. At the end Barcelona had 72% possession but only 1 shot on target. After the game Xavi called it their worst performance of the season which is hard to argue against.

To make matters worse Gavi, Raphinha and Xavi all picked up a yellow card. That means that the trio will miss Barcelona’s next league game against Valencia. Barcelona were 8 points clear of Real Madrid before this weekend and they could have gone 11 points clear. But now with Los Blancos’ draw against Atletico Madrid they are 7 points behind. Barcelona’s real test has started as they have crucial games in the league coming up. On top of that there is a Copa Del Rey semi final against Real Madrid as well. Xavi will be hoping that his team recovers and can bounce back soon. As for Almeria the win is huge and it betters their chances of survival.

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