Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has called for his side to take ownership of their mixed La Liga format.
La Blaugrana face a battle to get into the title race in the coming weeks while Real Madrid Storm are clearly at the top of the table.
Despite sailing past their El Clasico rivals in the Spanish Super Cup final earlier this month, the league's fixture is different, with just one win since the start of December.
The structure of the fixture calendar makes that statistic look bad, but Flick's charges lost their final two league games of 2024 and were held to a 1-1 draw at Getafe last weekend.
A battle in the south of Madrid mirrored Barcelona's recent trips to the Estadio Coliseum as they took on Jose Bordalas' away for the fourth consecutive season.
Missed opportunities and a host of controversy on the night dominated the headlines with Barcelona defender Alejandro Balde indicating he was racially abused by the home fans.
Flick focused on Barcelona's lack of killer instinct in front of goal in the match as they lost further ground to Real Madrid ahead of a return to league action at home to Valencia this weekend.
The former Bayern Munich boss was asked if he felt his team had shown both sides – after clinching their place in the UEFA Champions League last 16 in midweek – but struggled for consistency on domestic affairs.
“We lost a lot of points in the league. What happened at Getafe was our fault. It had nothing to do with Getafe, it has to do with us, we weren't focused enough. That's what I expect from the team in the next matches,” according to quotes from Diario as.
Flick can rotate for Barcelona's final Champions League match at home to Atalanta on January 29, before switching full focus to La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
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