Barcelona win; Xavi absent. | © Twitter (@sonta10061)
Young Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez scored twice, helping his team win 2-0 against Almeria in a La Liga match on Thursday. The 21-year-old reached 10 goals for the season in his first big year. Although Barcelona found it tough, they eventually beat the already-relegated Almeria. Earlier in the day, Spanish media reported that Barcelona president Joan Laporta did not travel to Almeria because he was upset with coach Xavi Hernandez’s comments before the match.
Xavi mentioned the club’s financial problems compared to the strength of the new Spanish champions, Real Madrid.
“They haven’t told me anything personally, we traveled with the sporting vice-president and more directors, all as usual,” Xavi told reporters.
“I said what I believe is true: we will fight for all the trophies with a lot of hope and ambition, but the situation is not easy.
“We are working very well, especially the club, to change this situation.”
Start of year, when the team was having a tough time, the coach said he would quit at the end of the season. However, he changed his decision in April after the team had a good streak, even though they got knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals.
Real Madrid effortlessly clinched the title from Barcelona’s reach, losing only one game and sealing the victory with four games remaining, while also advancing to the Champions League final.
Although Barcelona ended the season without any trophies, they are on the brink of securing second place, ahead of Girona, who are in third and now four points behind.
Lopez’s goals did the job in the south-east of Spain but it was far from a vintage performance from Barcelona against their relegated, rock-bottom opponents.
They took the lead after 14 minutes, with Lopez showing his knack for arriving in the area with perfect timing to reach Hector Fort’s cross and nod home.
Leo Baptistao missed Almeria’s best opportunity of the first half, shooting wide when he had a good chance.
Meanwhile, Lamine Yamal posed a threat as Barcelona looked for a second goal, and Adri Embarba hit the post at the opposite end.
Anthony Lozano missed a golden opportunity to score, shooting off-target despite having a clear chance, highlighting some of the problems Almeria have faced this season.
Lopez extended Barcelona’s lead in the 67th minute with a well-executed finish from Sergi Roberto’s pass, sealing Almeria’s fate and dashing their hopes of getting anything out of the game.
“I am very happy to help the team with goals but above all for the win,” Lopez told Movistar.
“We’ll keep fighting for second place until the end; that’s our goal now.”
Earlier, Betis and Las Palmas played out an entertaining 2-2 draw, with neither side entirely satisfied with the point.
Las Palmas, currently in 14th place, are six points clear of the relegation zone. If Pejino had scored a last-minute chance, they would have secured safety by now.
Betis lost two points in the tussle for Europa League football against Real Sociedad and had key playmaker Isco hobble off after taking a knock to the calf.
Real Sociedad beat Valencia 1-0 to jump into sixth place, a point ahead of Betis, seventh, with the sides meeting in Seville on Sunday in a crunch clash.
