Barcelona surprised by Cadiz in match marked by followers’ protest

Barcelona’s slim hopes for the Spanish league title all however ended after dropping to Cadiz 1-0 at residence on Monday in a match marked by protesting followers.

The followers have been upset at Barcelona permitting Eintracht Frankfurt supporters to take over the Camp Nou Stadium in a Europa League loss final week.

The first ever residence loss to relegation-threatened Cadiz left Barcelona 15 factors behind league chief Real Madrid with six rounds left. The Catalan membership, sitting in second place, has a recreation in hand however time is operating out on its quest to win the league for the primary time in three seasons.

Barcelona hadn’t misplaced consecutive video games at residence since 2003, based on Spanish media.

Barcelona’s Ferran Torres, proper, vies for the ball with Cadiz’s Fali throughout a Spanish La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Cadiz on the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, April 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Joan Monfort)

“It was a bad week for us but we have to move on and try to change this dynamic as soon as we can,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez mentioned. “We continue with our objective of securing a Champions League place.”

Upset with the excessive variety of Frankfurt followers on the Camp Nou on Thursday, one in every of Barcelona’s most important fan teams left empty a bit of the stadium behind one of many targets on Monday.

Only about 5,000 tickets have been bought to the visiting followers for Thursday’s match however almost 30,000 made it to the Camp Nou to see their staff defeat the Catalan membership and advance to the Europa semifinals.

Barcelona officers had already mentioned the membership would examine how so many Frankfurt followers have been capable of purchase tickets in sections reserved for Barcelona supporters.

“It’s a shame that they didn’t come,” Xavi mentioned. “We need them more than ever. We want to qualify for the Champions League and we need all the support we can get.”

Barcelona has the identical variety of factors as third-placed Sevilla and fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, which holds the ultimate Champions League qualification spot within the Spanish league. Fifth-placed Real Betis is three factors again.

Cadiz, which moved two factors away from the relegation zone, received the winner by means of Lucas Perez within the forty eighth minute. It had received solely one in every of its final 4 league matches, however hasn’t misplaced to Barcelona within the competitors in 4 straight video games.

Before the losses to Eintracht and Cadiz, Barcelona was unbeaten in 15 straight matches in all competitions.

Making his 674th look for Barcelona, Sergio Busquets tied Andres Iniesta for the third most with the membership, behind the 767 of Xavi and the 778 of Lionel Messi.

Barcelona was with out playmaker Pedri Gonzalez and defender Gerard Pique due to accidents, whereas defender Ronald Araujo was suspended.

Barcelona subsequent visits sixth-placed Real Sociedad on Thursday.