September was a very busy month for the team with five games stretched out on two weeks following an international break.
Xavi said before the first match that he'd like to keep on with last month's performances and collect all the possible points with el clásico and derbi barceloní two of four league games. It was quite a positive month but dropping points in the last match screwed a perfect one.
The first game saw one-man-show by
Luis Suárez, registering a brace, assist and a missed penalty to his name in one-sided match in the Catalan derby. The first half did not offer much with only notable events were
Marc Roca taken off for an ankle injury and
Espanyol's goal disallowed for an offside in the 39th minute after a VAR review. The second half was much more entertaining, starting with
Suárez got free in the penalty area and netted the first goal following a pass from
Antoine Griezmann.
Suárez doubled 16 minutes later when he headed in a cross by
Arthur. The Uruguayan assisted the next goal when a cross of hm found
Ousmane Dembélé's head. It could've been a hattrick for him but he missed the goal with a penalty late in the game.
The next one displayed a better opponent in the form of
Tottenham Hotspur when Camp Nou hosted another European night.
Luis Suárez continued his goal-scoring form when he finished off a near-post cross by
Lionel Messi (10).
Tottenham reacted quickly with a 30 meter worldie by
Giovanni Lo Celso a minute after (11).
Barcelona could've secured the victory a lot earlier but got denied by
Hugo Lloris time after time but it finally happened in the 92nd minute when
Messi reached first to a pass destined to
Vertonghen and ran all the way and overpowered the French keeper with a close-range effort into the left side of the net.
The team recorded another victory with a demolition of
Athletic Bilbao.
Samuel Umtiti charged on a rebound and fired it in from close-range in the 6th minute.
Lionel Messi doubled with a wonderful free-kick 8 minutes later (14).
Frenkie de Jong found
Griezmann with an inch-perfect through ball and the attacker rifled a first-touch shot into the net of the Basques. Unfortunately, the new signing suffered a hit to his ankle a minute later and got subbed by
Dembélé. Bilbao pulled one back in the 44th minute as the veteran
Raúl García scored with a powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area. Then
Sergi Roberto sent a cross into the box and
Suárez beat his defender to it and scored with a header into the far post and it's 4-1 already (49).
Messi scored his second and
Barcelona's fifth in the 71st minute when he got first to a ball inside the box and tucked it in. After the whistle, it has been revealed
Barcelona will have to cope without
Antoine Griezmann for the next four weeks because of an injury, twisted ankle.
Then we had the biggest match in La Liga, hosting bitter rivals
Real Madrid in Camp Nou. It turned out to be a pleasant day for the club and its supporters when a brace of
Ousmane Dembélé's awarded a precious win. Both teams were frustrated after getting prevented by the woodwork but it was
Real Madrid's fans celebrating first when
Raphaël Varane latched on a rebound off the woodwork and tapped it in (25).
Luis Suárez got the ball to his feet at the middle and ran down the left wing, laid it out to
Dembele who beat
Courtois with a placed shot (60). Two minutes later and the comeback turned official with Busquets found
Ousmane Dembélé in the left wing, rushed into the box and blasted the ball into the net (62). The referee blew the whistle and gave the fans the sign to celebrate a victory over the much-hated opponent.
Perhaps the team suffered of overconfidence or it was just a poor performance but the next opponent,
Real Betis, gave the club its first loss in this season. The Verdiblancos overcame the league leaders, thanks to a volley of 38-years-old,
Joaquín (46).
FC Barcelona's manager,
Xavi, commented: "Many will agree with me that it was a good month for us but there's a bitter taste left with the loss against Betis. I have to take the blame for it and promise the fans we will work harder to promise it will not happen again. Dropping points is fine and understandable but the fans need to see us fight in every game and it just wasn't that. At least we made them happy with El Clasico victory, very important for us and them. Overall, there's a lot of satisfaction but there are areas we need to work on for the next months to come."
The club's sporting director,
Andrés Iniesta, added: "Xavi and the team performed well in the last two months since the season's beginning. Sure, there's place for improvements and I told Xavi that and he agreed but I'm optimistic. The club's going through a change and despite it might take time for some to adapt, it should not affect our battle for all the titles we can get."
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