Xavi and Ilkay Gundogan agree on what went wrong for Barcelona in 4-2 Girona humbling

Barcelona's Xavi Hernandez and Ilkay Gundogan bemoaned their defensive errors as the Blaugrana suffered a 4-2 loss at the hands of Girona at home on Sunday, December 10.

Barcelona suffered just their second home defeat of the season during their LaLiga clash against Girona. The visitors took full advantage of Andreas Christensen's slip to take the lead through Artem Dovbyk's goal in the 12th minute.

Robert Lewandowski headed home seven minutes later to level the scores but Miguel Gutierrez's 40th-minute curler gave Girona the lead going into halftime. The Blaugrana had multiple chances to get back into the game in the next half hour but failed to capitalize on any of them.

Valery Fernandez took full advantage of some questionable defensive work from Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo to score in the 80th minute and hand his team a two-goal advantage. Gundogan netted in the second minute of stoppage time to give his side hope.

Cristhian Stuani, however, struck three minutes later to seal all three points for the away side after he was unmarked from a Savio free-kick.

Xavi spoke to reporters after the game and said, via MARCA (h/t Football-Espana):

“The mistakes in defence have taken their toll on us. They are the important details."

Gundogan echoed his manager's words, adding via the aforementioned source:

“Today we lost because of defensive problems. Collectively, we didn’t defend as expected."

Following their stellar win, Girona regained their spot at the summit of the LaLiga standings. They have 41 points from 16 games, which is two points more than second-placed Real Madrid and seven more than fourth-placed Barcelona.

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Who was Barcelona's star performer in their 4-2 loss to Girona?

Barcelona's title hopes were dealt a heavy blow as they fell to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Girona on Sunday. Let's take a look at who fared the best for Xavi Hernandez and Co. during the LaLiga clash.

Ilkay Gundogan was given the highest rating (8.9), as per FotMob. The former Manchester City midfielder had an excellent outing, scoring one goal, creating five big chances, and completing 72 out of 81 attempted passes with an accuracy of 89%. In addition, the 33-year-old had three shots on target, made 11 recoveries, and won four duels.

Gundogan has impressed since joining the Blaugrana over the summer, scoring two goals and providing five assists in 21 appearances across all competitions to date.