Barcelona came close to scoring but Ronald Araujo’s shot in the first half did not cross the line completely before being caught by Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga in the midst of a largely waning performance from the hosts..
- Barcelona’s balance rose to 72 One point out of 28 matches, 13 ahead of second-placed Real Madrid with 10 rounds to go, while Girona is eight points clear of the relegation zone in eleventh place..
Barcelona coach Xavi was hoping for a reaction from his team after losing 4-0 to Real Madrid in the King’s Cup semi-final last week, but the team struggled to break through Girona’s strong defense, which kept its clean sheet in the meeting for only the second time in the league this season..
“It was a very difficult game. We played well against Girona,” Xavi told reporters. We performed well in terms of advanced pressure, but once again we were unable to score.
“It’s a pity because we wanted to be 15 points behind Real Madrid, but that’s football. I think you have to appreciate where we are (at the top of the league) a lot.”.
“The responsibility to score lies with all the players in the team. We played a good game, and we missed goals. We tried everything, but it wasn’t possible today.”
Gazzaniga was also forced to clear the ball off the line after teammate Santiago Bueno sent a errant pass back that would have hit the net, while Barcelona winger Rafinha fired wide when he was in a good position at the far post..
The home side’s defender, Eric Garcia, headed a free kick over the bar when it would have been easy for him to score, but the best chance of the second half went to the visitors..
Striker Tati Castellanos was alone with Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but he hit the ball wide when he could have sent a simple pass to his colleague Viktor Tsygankov to score the latter easily..
Girona defender David Lopez said: “This is a difficult stadium to play in, against a team that finds it easy to score goals.
“We had to play a very complete game not to concede. We fought back and got a well-deserved point.
“The only negative point is that we couldn’t score. In this type of game you get one chance and if you don’t take it, you don’t get another chance.”“.
- Barcelona will head to Getafe in its next match next Sunday, while Girona will host its rival, Elche, on the same day..
#Barcelona #saves #face #Girona #goalless #draw