On Monday, April 18th, 2022 Barcelona’s very slim chances for the Spanish LaLiga League championship title all but failed following their loss to Cádiz 1-0 at home with the final tally of 1 to 0. This match was unfortunately noticeably marked by fans in hard protest.
The fans of Barca’s football squad were heavily – upset at Barcelona for enabling Eintracht Frankfurt supporters to take over the legendary and historic Camp Nou Stadium following a Europa League loss last week.
This loss marks the first ever home loss to the relegation – threatened Cádiz who just so happened to leave Barcelona 15 – points in back of the Spanish LaLiga League leading Real Madrid with just 6 – rounds remaining.
The Catalan club who is presently sitting in the 2nd – place spot of the Spanish LaLiga League, has just 1 – match in hand but time is starting to run out on their goal of winning the league for the first time over the course of the last 3 – European football seasons.
Barcelona has not lost in consecutive games at their home stadium since 2003, according to the Spanish media outlets.
“It was a bad week for us but we have to move on and try to change this dynamic as soon as we can,” the head coach of Barcelona’s football club, Xavi Hernández, stated. “We continue with our objective of securing a Champions League place.”
Upset that there were a very high number of Frankfurt fans at the historic Camp Nou Stadium last Thursday, one of Barcelona’s largest and most enthusiastic fan groups left an entire section of the stadium empty behind 1 of the goals scored on the past Monday.
Somewhere around 5,000 tickets were sold to the visiting side fans for last Thursday’s game, but nearly 30,000 fans made it out to the Camp Nou Stadium to watch their club defeat the Catalan club in order to advance to the Europa semifinals.
Barcelona officials have already stated that the football club would investigate how so many Frankfurt fans were allowed to buy tickets in the sections that were reserved for the loyal Barcelona fans.
“It’s a shame that they didn’t come,” Xavi goes on to say. “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 an equal amount of points as the 3rd – placed Sevilla and the 4th – placed Atlético Madrid, both of which hold the final Champions League qualification spot in the Spanish LaLiga league. The 5th – placed Real Betis is just 3 – points back.
Cádiz has now just so happened to move just 2 – points short of the relegation zone, as they have got the winner via Lucas Pérez during the 48th – minute of the match. They had won only 1 of their last 4 – Spanish LaLiga League matches, but they have not lost to Barca in the competition over the course of the last 4 – consecutive contests.
Before their losses to both Eintracht and Cádiz, the Barcelona football club was undefeated throughout their last 15 – straight games throughout all competitions.
Making his 674th appearance for the Barcelona football club, Sergio Busquets, tied Andrés Iniesta for the 3rd – most overall with the long – lasting history of the football club, behind only the 767 of Xavi as well as the 778 of the living – legend Lionel Messi.
Barcelona was playing without their playmaker, Pedri González, and their defender Gerard Piqué due to injuries, while their defender Ronald Araújo was suspended too. Barcelona next will have to visit the 6th – placed Real Sociedad this Thursday, April 21st, 2022.
Sources:
Azzoni, Tales. “Barcelona stunned by Cádiz in match marked by fans’ protest”. The Associated Press. April 18, 2022.
ESPN News Services. “Spanish LaLiga Table 2021 – 22”. ESPN. April 18, 2022.