Barcelona Suffers First Defeat Under Xavi, Dims Qualification Chances

Fans of FC Barcelona have been unsettled following the team suffering its first defeat, since coming under  Xavi Hernandez as coach.

The 0-1 to Real Betis  at Camp Nou has further dimmed Barca’s qualification chances for next season’s Champions League.

With the latest result, the Catalonian team has no option than to win its next match at Bayern Munich on Wednesday to be sure of going through.

Agency reports shows that Barcelona paid for  a brilliant Betis counter-attack, finished by Juanmi in the 79th minute.

The loss is Barcelona’s fourth in the season and leaves them a daunting seven points behind the Champions League qualification places.

On the other hand, Betis moved into third to continue their excellent start to the campaign.

Barcelona stay seventh and will be 16 points behind leaders Real Madrid, if Madrid win at Real Sociedad later on Saturday.

Xavi had started with two wins out of two in La Liga but even he admitted the results owed a lot to good fortune, with Espaynol and then Villarreal guilty of squandering several chances.

In between, a goalless draw at home to Benfica in the Champions League exposed Barcelona’s ongoing problems in front of goal and that was evident against Betis, who were relatively untroubled throughout.

 Ousmane Dembele, who come on off the bench, posed the greatest threat while the 19-year-old Abde Ezzalzouli missed a golden opportunity to equalise late on, when the ball was cut back to him eight yards out. The youngster blazed over.

Minutes before, Betis showed far more composure to finish off a slick counter-attack.

Sergio Canales broke free down the right but the move appeared to have lost its momentum when Canales pulled back to Guido Rodriguez on the edge of the area.

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Instead, he shifted the ball quickly left to the arriving Juanmi, who took one touch before sliding into the corner.

Earlier, Sevilla reduced the gap to Real Madrid to five points by beating Villarreal 1-0, with Lucas Ocampos scoring the winner in the first half.

Victory lifts Sevilla into second place, above Atletico Madrid, who play at home to Mallorca later on Saturday.