BARCELONA
\nBarcelona\u2019s place in La Liga\u2019s top four looks much less secure after they suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to relegation-battling Cadiz on Monday.
\nLucas Perez\u2019s close-range finish early in the second half condemned Barca to a second consecutive defeat, on the back of their shock exit at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League on Thursday.
\nBarcelona stayed second but are level on points with both Sevilla in third and Atletico Madrid in fourth while Real Betis in fifth are only three points behind. Xavi Hernandez\u2019s team do have a game in hand over the trio below them.
\nBut the loss means Barca have won only one of their last four matches, that victory coming via an injury-time winner against 19th-placed Levante.
\nAny hopes they had of making leaders Real Madrid feel uncomfortable are surely over, with Madrid 15 points clear at the top, having played a game more.
\n\u201cWe must be self-critical,\u201d said Xavi. \u201cWe have to say things to each others\u2019 faces. This is Barca and we have to be better. At home we have to show more hunger, more faith, more character. This was a final and we have not played it like that.\u201d Cadiz climb out of the relegation zone to 16th, two points clear of the bottom three.
\nThe defeat by Frankfurt on Thursday was a particularly bitter pill to swallow, given the Catalans effectively ceded their home advantage by allowing more than 20,000 away fans into Camp Nou.
\nXavi said on Saturday Barca had felt \u201crobbed in their own home\u201d and one of the club\u2019s prominent fan groups boycotted the Cadiz game in protest, with the section behind the goal at one end empty.
\n\u201cWe need everyone,\u201d said Xavi. \u201cBarca has to be more united than ever now.\u201d
\nControversy surrounded Gerard Pique on Monday too, after a report by El Confidencial said the defender\u2019s company, Kosmos, are to receive 24 million euros for their part in moving the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia. Pique was not involved against Cadiz as he had a hamstring injury.
\nAs well as issues around the Frankfurt fans and Pique, Xavi finds himself confronting the team\u2019s first real dip since he was appointed in November.
\nBarcelona can ill-afford to miss out on Champions League qualification, with the club\u2019s debts at the start of the season amounting to more than a billion euros.
\nCadiz should have been in front at half-time but Perez shot wide after being given a simple finish by Ruben Sobrino.
\nOusmane Dembele had Barcelona\u2019s best chance but the Frenchman was unable to finish off a driving run, his shot straight at Cadiz goalkeeper Jeremias Ledesma.
\nCadiz continued to create the better chances and two minutes into the second half, they took the lead. Jordi Alba lost the ball in midfield and Alex\u2019s cross found Sobrino, whose header was parried by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, only for Perez to follow in.
\nAlex should have put Barca out of sight but fired wide from Ivan Alejo\u2019s pull-back before Barcelona\u2019s Luuk de Jong, on as a substitute, headed straight at Ledesma.
\nSergio Busquets tested Ledesma with a late strike from distance before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang volleyed straight at the goalkeeper late on, Gavi unable to reach the rebound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARCELONA Barcelona\u2019s place in La Liga\u2019s top four looks much less secure after they suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat at home to relegation-battling Cadiz on Monday. Lucas Perez\u2019s close-range finish early in the second half condemned Barca to a second consecutive defeat, on the back of their shock exit at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6119,6118,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-256214","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-barcas-top-four","9":"tag-danger","10":"tag-defeat"},"yoast_head":"\n