Barcelona Loses In The Kandang Match, Coach Xavi Hernandez Resigns

Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez stepped down. But he put his post after the competition season ended. (X/@FCBarcelona)

JAKARTA - Barcelona fought a 5-3 defeat against Villarreal in a Spanish La Liga duel at the Olkahmpic Lluvis Companys Stadium, Sunday, January 28 2-24 in the morning WIB. The defeat led to the resignation of coach Xavi Hernandez. But he will only withdraw after the end of the competition.

Bad results in a row made Xavi choose to put up a position. Previously, Barca failed in the Copa del Rey after being knocked out by Athletic Bilbao. They also lost their title in the Spanish Super Cup after losing 4-1 against Real Madrid in El Clasico.

Xavi actually still hopes that Barca can close the competition by winning trophies. The reason is, Barca is still possible to compete in domestic competitions. In addition, the Blaugrana still survives in the Champions League. If it reaps achievements or at least Barca are able to compete with the winning team, then his performance can be reviewed.

However, the defeat suffered by Barca in the home match made Xavi make a crucial decision.

"I announce that starting June 30 I will no longer continue as Barca coach," Xavi said during a press conference after the match against Villarreal.

The defeat to Villarreal made it increasingly difficult for Barca to catch up with Madrid, who returned to lead the standings after a 2-1 win over Las Palmas.

Dengan memiliki poin 44, Barca memang masih menyatukt peringkat tiga Namun Los Cules sudah lebih 10 poin dari Madrid. Sementara, Girona yang turun ke peringkat dua memiliki poin 52.

Meanwhile, Villarreal is still stuck in 14th place. They pocketed 23 points. Victory over Barca made them start to move away from the relegation zone. Now, The Yellow Submarine is eight points ahead of Cadiz who is ranked 18th or the top of the team in the relegation zone.

Despite being at the bottom, Villarreal was able to show their best performance against Barca.

Even the visitors actually took the lead when Gerard Moreno scored in the 22nd minute. But Moreno's goal was disallowed by the referee because he was judged to be in an offside position.

The referee's decision had disappointed Villarreal player and coach Marcelino. However, they tried to keep up with the opponent's game.

Interestingly, when Barca's possession ball reached 70%, but they were unable to score. On the other hand, Villarreal managed to do it. This time Moreno made no mistake while beating goalkeeper Inaki Pena in the 41st minute. The 1-0 score for Villarreal lasted until the end of the first half.

In the second half Villarreal played more aggressively. On the other hand Barca were under pressure. As a result, the visitors were able to increase their lead after Ilias Akhomach scored a goal in the 54th minute. This put Villarreal 2-0 up.

But Barca were able to rise. The hosts only needed eight minutes to score two goals and equalize.

Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan gave hope after scoring a goal in the 60th minute. The former Manchester City player finished the striker's assist Robert Lewandowski.

Furthermore, Gundogan, who played a role in the process of creating a second goal. He made an assist that Pedri completed optimally.

Even Barca took the lead in the 71st minute. Defender Erik Bailly's own goal, who was about to throw away Joao Felix's free kick, changed the score to 3-2.

Villarreal gave a good quick response. They didn't take long to equalize. Starting from a counterattack from Villarreal that led to Alexander Sorloth and then releasing a long pass at Goncalo Guedes.

The ball from Sorloth was well controlled by Guedes before releasing a shot that broke into Barca's goal in the 84th minute. The score changed to 3-3.

In that situation, Villarreal even played aggressively. Barca did get a penalty after Santi Comesana was declared a handball in the 90th minute. However, after checking through VAR, Comesana did not commit a violation so the penalty decision was canceled.

Barca then tried to pressure the opponent into injury time. This makes the home defense a little open.

This situation was put to good use by Sorloth in the 90+9 minute. After making two assists, he then listed the name on the scoreboard.

Furthermore, Jose Luis Morales silenced Barca. His 90+12 goal made Villarreal win 5-3. The score lasted until the end of the match.