Xavi Questions Mentality of Barcelona Players After Frustrating Draw vs Rayo Vallecano

• Xavi Hernandez was critical of Barcelona players after their 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano
• The reigning La Liga champions were headed for defeat but scored a late equalizer
• Xavi has not beaten Rayo Vallecano as Barcelona boss

Barcelona were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, dropping more points as the title race heats up.

Barca boss Xavi Hernandez was not happy with the mentality of his players, demanding more from his players after a run of poor performances, domestically and in Europe.

The defending La Liga champions went behind after 39 minutes following Unai Lopez's spectacular strike and struggled to breach the formidable defence of the home side.

Barcelona finally equalized through Florian Lejeune's own goal after Robert Lewandowski pressed him. However, they couldn't find a winner late on.

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The draw leaves Barcelona with 31 points after 14 games. It was their 4th draw of the season.

Xavi on Barcelona's performance

Speaking after the game, Xavi was very critical of the performance of his team. He questioned the mentality of his players, saying that it has to change for them to challenge for the title.

"We lacked that mentality to go for it. If we want to win trophies this season, we have to change our mentality," via GOAL.

He asked his players to put more effort into their performances.

After winning La Liga and the Super Cup, maybe our mentality has subconsciously dropped a bit. You cannot allow that, neither from me as a coach nor the players. We have to give more."

The good news is Barcelona play three home games in a row against Porto, Atletico Madrid and Girona.

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Lewandowski clashes with Lamine Yamal

Earlier, Sports Brief reported on Lewandowski expressing frustration with Lamine Yamal during their 2-1 victory against Alaves.

The Polish international, at times visibly frustrated during the game at Montjuic, ultimately proved pivotal by scoring two times for Barcelona.

A video has surfaced online showing Lewandowski clearly upset with Yamal after the youngster failed to pass to him inside the Alaves box.