Xavi’s Barcelona suffer shock defeat as Girona takes charge

• Girona stuns Barcelona 4-2 to take the La Liga lead.
• Girona wins all away games this season.
• Barcelona suffers a second-league loss.

Xavi Hernandez’s club suffered their second league loss of the year as Girona upset FC Barcelona 4-2 to take the top spot in La Liga on Sunday.

Girona’s first-half goals came from Artem Dovbyk and Miguel Gutierrez, respectively, following Robert Lewandowski’s equalizer. In the second half, Ilkay Gundogan scored one goal for Barcelona and two more goals from Valery Fernandez and Cristhian Stuani.

Girona leads the standings after 16 games with 41 points, having won all of their away La Liga games this year. After Carlo Ancelotti’s team drew 1-1 with Real Betis on Saturday, they surpassed Real Madrid with 39 points.

With a game remaining, third-place Atletico Madrid and fourth-place Barcelona are tied at 34 points.

“Girona have a lot of merit in what they are doing. They are in the lead, even more so today. They’ve got seven points more than us and that’s well deserved,” Xavi said.

“It was an even game. If Barca won, we would also say it’s fair. I think we shot 31 times. Maybe the errors in defence have taken their toll on us.

“I think we have to continue on this path, do not doubt or tremble, continue working.

“It’s a Barça under construction and that means taking steps forward and backwards.”

Barcelona had 31 shots, 11 of which were on goal, but Paulo Gazzaniga of Girona made some excellent stops to keep the home team out.

“This Girona side have a soul and believe they can hurt their opponents,” coach Michel said.

“We knew that (Barca) were going to press hard but if we were able to make the first two passes, we would stand a chance.”

Barcelona’s next league trip is to mid-table Valencia on Saturday, after which they will travel to Royal Antwerp on Wednesday in the Champions League. On December 18, Girona will play Alaves, who are ranked 12th.

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