Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong sharply criticized his team, who missed his lead by 3 goals in the first half to draw 3-3 away with Celta Vigo in the Spanish Football League on Saturday.
Barcelona produced one of their best performances in their faltering season in the first half, leading 3-0 before the break thanks to goals by Ansu Fati, Sergio Busquets and Memphis Depay.
Barcelona collapse
But his good performances in the first half evaporated after he collapsed in the second, and a goal from Nolito and two goals from Iago Aspas - one of them equalizing in stoppage time - crowned a stunning comeback from Celta that only added to Barcelona's troubles on the day he announced the appointment of his former star Xavi Hernandez as coach. from next Monday.
"I think we forgot to play in the second half, we were very passive and we lacked personality," Dutchman De Jong told reporters.
Take Xavi
Xavi has two weeks to prepare his team for his first match against neighbor Espanyol, after he put an end to a 6-year career as a player and coach with the Qatari Al Sadd to return to Barcelona, where he played with the Catalan club 767 games, and won 8 titles in the Spanish League in addition to 4 titles in the Champions League. Europe.
"We'll see how it goes, the fans are very excited and the players will work hard," De Jong added.
11 injuries in Barcelona
In addition to this disappointing result that left Barcelona without any victory in 4 matches, the Catalan team lost Eric Garcia, Fati and Nico due to injury, bringing the number of injured to 11.
"It's very strange and it would be good to find out why and make sure it doesn't happen again," de Jong said. "We have a lot of problems with injuries, and although that's not an excuse, it's very important for the future."