Barcelona manager Xavi has demanded immediate improvement from his team after Sunday's goalless draw against Getafe extended a minor slump for the runaway La Liga leaders.
Barca’s winless, and scoreless, run reached three games after the stalemate at Coliseum Alfonso Perez, allowing second-place Real Madrid to cut into their lead again.
The Catalan club still hold an 11-point advantage over Madrid with nine games to go. Madrid, mostly focused on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey, won 2-0 at Cadiz on Saturday. “We have to start playing better again, we have to be more effective,” Xavi said. “We earned a point that is not that bad, but we have to improve our game.
This is not over yet.” The one positive for Barca was a 22nd clean sheet of the season in the top flight, with Getafe, 15th, not creating much danger. "Here you suffer, because the grass is high, the usual tricks, so it's hard, the clear chances you have, you have to put them away," Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen told DAZN. "It's a dry pitch, so it's difficult.