Joao Cancelo took the blame upon himself as Barcelona suffered a humiliating defeat against Villarreal in La Liga.
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Cancelo took responsibility for Barcelona's defeatDefender's mistake led to Villarreal's second goalBarcelona went down 5-3 at homeWHAT HAPPENED?
The Manchester City loanee, who played for the first time in three weeks after recovering from injury, committed a costly mistake in the 54th minute of the game as his lacklustre clearance fell into the path of Ilias Akhomach, who rounded Inaki Pena and finished for a 2-0 lead for Villarreal. Barcelona momentarily turned things around, scoring three times in a span of 11 minutes but the Yellow Submarine eventually clinched the clash 5-3.
In a post-game interview, Cancelo took the blame upon himself as he defended Xavi after the embarrassing defeat at home.
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Speaking at the post-match interview with , the defender said, "My performance today was a disaster. Tomorrow I will give everything in training to be at my best on Wednesday. We are a great team. The coach is not to blame. He did them well and I did not reciprocate. Has the League gone? Mathematically no, but it is very difficult."
Getty Images THE BIGGER PICTURE
This was the Catalan giants' second consecutive defeat across all competitions and the team has now conceded nine goals in their last two matches. The loss has increased their gap to league leaders Girona to 10 points and will place further scrutiny on Xavi's future at the club.
Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?
The reigning champions will hope to get back to winning ways when they next take on Osasuna in La Liga on Wednesday.