Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has stressed the importance of the Catalan giants remaining united after suffering another setback at home to Granada on Monday.
Barca required a 90th-minute equaliser from Ronald Araujo to salvage a 1-1 draw after Domingos Duarte had opened the scoring with the earliest goal for a visiting side at Camp Nou since Atletico Madrid s Fernando Torres in February 2005.
The LaLiga heavyweights have now won two and drawn two of their four league matches this term and are already five points adrift of leaders Real Madrid, albeit with a game in hand.
Having also suffered a heavy 3-0 loss at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League last week, the pressure is building on head coach Ronald Koeman ahead of Thursday s trip to Cadiz.
Ter Stegen is confident that Barca s young squad can turn things around with time, but has called on supporters to remain patient during a difficult period for the club.
The draw leaves us with a bitter aftertaste, he told Barca TV. It has cost us, but we have the feeling that we could have done more. In the end I think the draw is good because of the result, because we could have lost.
We have to be more united than ever, it is not an easy situation for anyone, we need the fans more than ever. I am convinced that with the energy of the young people and the rest of the team it is possible.
Araujo s late equaliser came from one of 54 Barca crosses – the second most the Catalans have registered in a match since the 2005-06 season, behind only the 55 they sent in during a goalless draw with Malaga in November 2016.
The Uruguay international led the way for both the number of shots (five) and shots on target (three) for Barca in the Granada stalemate, while no player could better his two clearances, level with Sergio Busquets.
He was unable to get to Duarte for Granada s second-minute opener, however, and the defender has accepted an improvement is needed at the back.
When a team scores from a set-piece, that s usually down to a lack of concentration, he told Movistar+. We have to correct that. It s sometimes difficult at the start of games, but we have to correct that because it makes it difficult to respond.
It s a shame because we wanted to win, we wanted the three points at home. We played a good game but we let in the early goal, they defended deeply, we tried to attack, have the ball and get back into the game.
The draw with Granada was the first time Barca have failed to win a LaLiga game played on a Monday in what was their eight game on the first day of the week.
