Girona hold Barcelona to 0-0

Madrid, April 11

Barcelona failed to rebound from their humiliating loss to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey semifinals and were held to a 0-0 home draw with Girona in the La Liga on Monday.

The result still allowed Barcelona to increase their lead over second-placed Madrid to 13 points with 10 matches remaining. Madrid lost 2-3 to Villarreal at home on Saturday.

Barcelona lost 0-4 to Madrid at the Camp Nou last week. It was the first time Barcelona had lost to Madrid at home by four goals since 1963 and they hoped to rebound in the team’s rare Monday game.

Barcelona playmaker Gavi had one of the best chances to break the deadlock when his header off a corner kick was saved by Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga deep into stoppage time. Robert Lewandowski nearly found the net shortly after with a backheel shot that deflected off a defender in front of the goal.

Girona’s best opportunity came in a one-on-one situation wasted by Taty Castellanos early in the second half.

Barcelona finished with 18 shots in total, but only three were on target. Girona had five overall and none on target. — AP