On the up and up in La Liga
In La Liga FC Barcelona are fighting back after a run of 12 points from a possible 15 in the last five fixtures for Xavi Hernández's team. Results elsewhere in the competition have seen Barça claw back some ground on the top two teams in recent weeks.
Four wins
Despite losing in the final of the Spanish Super Cup and being knocked out of the Copa del Rey in January, in La Liga it has been a different story in 2024. In five matches, only the slip at home against Villarreal has prevented Xavi Hernández's team from taking maximum points from their fixtures so far this year.
Barça began with a 2-1 victory in Las Palmas thanks to goals from Ferran Torres and Gündoğan. A defeat for Atlético Madrid away at title contenders Girona was the other stand out result, allowing the blaugranes to open up a gap on Diego Simeone's team.
The blaugranes' 4-2 victory over Betis in week 21 was matched by rivals Real Madrid, Girona and Atlético Madrid. In the week 20 games postponed due to the Spanish Super Cup, Real Madrid and Atlético once again registered wins as did Barça, defeating Osasuna 1-0 at the Estadi Olímpic. Only Girona dropped points in their week 20 fixture earlier in January, drawing 0-0 at home against bottom side Almería.
Defeat for Barça in week 23 against Villarreal at home and wins for their three rivals saw Barça lose ground on the leaders but coming into the game against Alavés in week 23 Xavi's team were now just eight points behind second placed Girona and 10 behind leaders Real Madrid.
Important weekend in La Liga
Week 2 saw results swing Barça's way. The impressive 3-1 win at Alavés was accompanied by a draw at home against Real Sociedad for Girona and another draw in the Madrid derby in the Santiago Bernabéu between Real and Atlético. Now the blaugranes are in third place in the table, two points ahead of Atlético and only six behind second placed Girona and eight behind leaders Real Madrid.
Next weekend's round of matches sees the top two face each other in the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday whilst Barça take on second to bottom Granada at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Sunday, kick off 9pm CET, a good opportunity for Xavi's men to claw back some more ground on the two teams above them in La Liga.
