FC Barcelona have seen significant improvement in its spirit and morale ever since the appointment of Xavi Hernandez as the first team’s head coach.
One of the characteristic attributes of Xavi’s Barcelona is their propensity to keep on fighting till the last minutes and not give up hope even if a game does not go their way for a majority of the time.
This is in stark contrast to the Barcelona of some years prior, which folded easily under pressure, and this weakness has been immortalized in the losses to Roma, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Araujo wins it for Barcelona
However, this season, the team has shown a great fighting spirit. The extent of this spirit is highlighted by a report from Mundo Deportivo, which claims that Barcelona have been able to win 12 points due to goals after the 80th minute this season.
The latest instance where late goals helped Barcelona get some precious points was last night’s match against Real Sociedad, in which Ronald Araujo scored a goal in the 92nd minute to give the Catalans the win, despite being not the best team on the pitch for most part of the game.
Late heroics this season
Barcelona’s ability to win points in the very late stages of a game was displayed in the very second game of this season when the Catalans got a victory after Pedri scored the first goal in the 82nd minute.
Ferran Torres added another one in that match in the 94th minute to give Barcelona the full three points. On matchday four, Robert Lewandowski won and scored a penalty in the 86th minute, which gave Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Osasuna.
The matchday six saw La Blaugrana come back from an almost impossible position, as they came back from a two-goal deficit after the 80th minute to get a 3-2 victory by the full-time whistle. Lewandowski scored goals in the 81st and 85th minutes, and Cancelo scored the winner in the 89th minute.
Against Granada on matchday nine, Sergi Roberto rescued a point for Barcelona by scoring a goal in the 85th minute, and Barcelona were denied a victory only by a seemingly unfair ruling out of Felix’s goal that was scored in the injury time.
Marc Guiu became the hero at Barcelona when he scored the only goal of the match against Athletic Club in the 80th minute on matchday 10.
