In spite of being held to a scoreless draw by mid-table Girona in their Catalan derby at Camp Nou on Monday, Barcelona increased their lead at the top of LaLiga to 13 points.
In what was a generally lackluster effort by the home team, Barcelona came the closest to scoring when Ronald Araujo’s first-half shot just missed the goal line and was cleared by Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
With 10 rounds left, they increased their lead over Real Madrid by 13 points, moving up to 72 points after 28 games, while Girona, which is currently in 11th place, is eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Coach Xavi of Barcelona was expecting for a response from his team after their 4-0 defeat by Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey semifinal last week, but they struggled to get past a staunch Girona defense that had only allowed one other LaLiga clean sheet all season.
“Girona performed exceptionally well in a very difficult game. The high press went well, but we were unable to score once more “reporters, Xavi said.
“While it’s unfortunate since we intended to surpass Real Madrid by 15 points, sport is football. The situation we’re in ought to be highly valued, in my opinion (at the top of LaLiga).
“Each squad member is accountable for scoring. The goal was just out of reach despite our solid effort. Despite our best efforts, today proved to be an impossibility.”
Moreover, Barcelona winger Raphinha had a good opportunity to score when well-positioned at the back post after teammate Santiago Bueno made a loose back pass that would have found the bottom corner. Gazzaniga had to clear the ball off his goalline.
The visitors had the finest opportunity of the second half, but home defender Eric Garcia missed a goal after heading over from a free kick.
Taty Castellanos, a striker, was put in a one-on-one situation with Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona, but he missed the target with a curled shot instead of a straightforward square pass to teammate Viktor Tsygankov, who would have been able to tap the ball in.
According to Girona defender David Lopez, “This is a difficult place to come, against a club that finds it simple to score goals.” “In order to prevent a defeat, we had to play a really comprehensive game. When we resisted, we earned a point.
“Having no chance to score is the sole drawback. You only get one chance in these kinds of games, and if you pass it up, you won’t get another.”
The next game for Barca is on Sunday against Getafe, and the following game for Girona is against Elche.
