FC Barcelona succumbed to a shock 0-1 defeat to relegation-battlers CD Leganes in La Liga last night at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
It was a second consecutive home defeat for the Blaugrana, who were defeated 1-2 by UD Las Palmas a couple of weeks back in Montjuic.
The result also meant that Barça have collected only five points from the last 18 available in the league, allowing the likes of Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid to catch up to them in the title race.
Hansi Flick gives the team two days off
Following the disappointing loss to Leganes last night, Mundo Deportivo reports that Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has granted his players two days off.
No training for two days. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
It means that the Blaugrana stars will not be training on Monday and Tuesday and will resume work on Wednesday in preparation for the weekend’s La Liga encounter against Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona did not have any break last week as they had two matches – first the UEFA Champions League encounter against Borussia Dortmund in Germany which they narrowly won 3-2 before Sunday’s match vs Leganes where they fell to a defeat.
As such, Flick has opted to give his players a break for two days and starting Wednesday, Barcelona will begin preparing for the crucial league match against Atletico Madrid, scheduled for Saturday in Montjuic.
The defeat against Leganes leaves Barcelona on 38 points, level with second-placed Atletico Madrid, who have a game in hand.
Real Madrid, who were held to a 3-3 draw by Rayo Vallecano this past weekend, sit third with 37 points, also having played one fewer match than the Catalans.