Liga leaders Barca drop more points, Atletico beat Almeria

BARCELONA: A subdued Barcelona could not break down Getafe in a 0-0 draw on Sunday, dropping more points but still sitting 11 clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Third-place Atletico Madrid beat Almeria 2-1 at home with Antoine Griezmann netting a brace as he continued his sparkling form.

Valencia sunk deeper into the relegation mire with a 2-0 home defeat by Sevilla, who host Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday.

Champions Madrid beat Cadiz on Saturday to cut back Barcelona’s lead, and with nine games remaining it seems highly unlikely they will catch Barcelona — but Xavi Hernandez’s side are limping over the line.

Barcelona drew 0-0 at home against Girona on Monday and followed that up with a second consecutive stalemate, the team still wallowing after their Copa del Rey semifinal thrashing by Madrid earlier in April.

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. We did things differently to normal.”

Xavi echoed Ter Stegen’s complaint that the low quality of the pitch played a part in the result, but said Barca could not hide behind it.

“It’s not an excuse, we weren’t accurate, we made chances but we could not finish them,” said Xavi.

“But yes, the grass did hurt us, the ball didn’t run.”

After a slow start, the Catalans created the first clear chance at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, when Raphinha fired against the post, with Balde’s follow-up also striking the woodwork.

Sergi Roberto