Barcelona are obliged to react after the Inter Milan draw and the Clasico defeat. They need to pick themselves up but the calendar is tough. They have two difficult home games next, with Unai Emery’s Villarreal and then Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Bilbao coming on Thursday and Sunday.
Then comes the Champions League, on Oct 26, against Bayern Munich. Barcelona might be out by then as Inter face Plzen before and if they win then it’s game over for Xavi’s side.
Up next after that is Valencia at Mestalla on Saturday 29, and they are tough too, under Gennaro Gattuso.
November might be calmer. Before the Qatar World Cup there are three games. Plzen, which is likely to be a dead rubber, Almeria, at home, and then a tough visit to El Sadar to face Osasuna on Nov 8.