Barcelona coach Xavi has insisted that Barcelona have quickly ‘turned the page’ since being heavily beaten by Real Madrid in the recent Copa del Rey semi-final second leg.
Real won 4-0 at Camp Nou to progress to their first Copa final in nine years, with Karim Benzema doing most of the damage with a second half hat-trick. The result overturned the slender 1-0 aggregate lead that Barça had managed to get from the first leg.
The stats suggested a relatively even game, but Real were vastly more clinical.
“We’ve analysed the reasons for the mistakes we made, especially in the first half,” Xavi said.
“In the first half we had to be ahead on the scoreboard, you can’t forgive so much and when you forgive, Madrid are the team that make you pay most dearly for it.”
Out of two European competitions already, Barça only have La Liga left to focus on to in the hope of adding to the Supercopa de Espana title they secured in January. Xavi insists the desire to triumph in the league has only been strengthened as a result of the Copa del Rey setback.
“We’ve turned the page and we’re focusing on La Liga,” he said. “When we were knocked out of the Champions League we made a pact to win the league, it’s the fairest competition because it gives you the work of the whole season. We are focused on the eleven games.”
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Barça continue their La Liga campaign with Monday night’s local clash with Girona at Camp Nou.
With Real suffering a shock defeat at home to Villarreal on Saturday, Xavi’s team have the chance to extend their lead at the top to 15 points with 10 games left.
At this stage of the season, Real Madrid can get a maximum of 89 points, meaning Barcelona only need to reach 90 from their remaining games to mathematically seal a first league title in four years.
To get to that magic number, Barça need 19 more points from a possible 33, starting with the visit of a Girona side in a lower mid-table position.
Having won four in a row at this moment, in time, should they keep winning, Barça could be crowned La Liga champions in their seventh game from now – with four games to spare.
In that scenario, the decisive match could be the city derby against Espanyol on 14 May.
However, the title-winning game could come forward if Real drop more points. It could also be pushed further back if Real start consistently winning and Barça end up dropping points.
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