Xavi : Barcelona have Five Finals Left to Play(details)

In a shocking turn of events, Xavi’s Barcelona honeymoon came to an abrupt end as they’ve hit a big bump along their illustrious road.

Three home defeats in the last two weeks have seen their promising fairytale ride end as they crashed out of the Europa League and lost momentum on Real Madrid.

Now, coach Xavi has told his boys they’ve got five finals to play as they push for a champions league qualification spot.

With a 15 points gap, the hope of a league upset is all but over as madrid just have to secure a draw next week against espanyol to win the title.

As the season draws to a close, Barcelona and Xavi knows there’s a lot of work to be done but aim to win their remaining matches and secure a UCL spot.

Rayo Vallecano completed a league double over the blaugrana as a 0-1 victory in the camp nou pile more pressure on the Catalans.

Assessing the Vallecano setback and its impact, Xavi said: “I don’t think it’s a lack of personality on the part of the team. There are emergencies at the club, both football-wise and financially. It’s a difficult situation and we have to face it.

“Now it’s time to rest, disconnect and in the middle of the week we will get back on and prepare for the Mallorca game. We have five finals remaining, we’ve complicated it for ourselves.”

Barcelona should still achieve a top-four finish, given they remain six points clear of fifth-placed Real Betis, but Xavi wants more than to see his side stumble over the line.

Their objective is to finish the season strongly and build momentum for the next campaign, and performances such as Sunday’s disrupt the significant progress that has been made since Xavi’s appointment in November.

He went on

“We are in a difficult situation. We are still in the Champions League places but we have complicated it for ourselves because if we had beaten Cadiz and Rayo it would have almost given us qualification for the Champions League.”