Three things we learned from Barcelona's defeat to Girona

Barcelona fell further down the league table after losing at home 4-2 to first place Girona. It was a resounding win from the visiting side, leaving many questions surrounding the future of Barcelona the rest of the season.

Here are three talking points stemming from the defeat.

Xavi Hernandez outclassed

One of the persons signaled out for the loss was manager Xavi Hernandez.

Despite the wins over Porto and Atletico Madrid, Barcelona were far from a polished product and those deficiencies shown in those wins were quite apparent in the drubbing against Girona.

Xavi was completely outmanaged by Michel as Girona easily beat out the Barcelona press, or lack thereof, and their quick, decisive passing constantly left Barcelona players scrambling for the ball and frantically trying to catch up to help out defensively.

While credit has to go to Girona, it certainly pained Barcelona supporters see Girona do to them what Barcelona used to do to other teams in their golden years.

Again, some of the same mistakes we've seen during Xavi's tenure remain and it has left many wondering what exactly Xavi does during training sessions that has left his team bereft of answers against Girona and continuously exposed defensively. Especially considering Barcelona's defense was nowhere near as leaky last season.

All those questions has left Xavi in a very precarious position. He's been cut some slack because of what he means to the club but that patience is quickly running out.

Inability to put chances away

Girona were the better team on the night and fully deserved their win.

However, despite the backlash towards Barcelona, it wasn't their worst game of the season. Actually, it was far from it.

They started the game on the front foot and didn't lose much of their composure even when they went down a goal. Once they found the equalizer through Robert Lewandowski, it seemed like they would be able to take control.

Barcelona had opportunities to take the lead before Girona scored their second as well as equalizing down by one and then two late in the game.

Barcelona simply weren't clinical in front of goal and it's been one of the worrying parts of this season.

Barcelona had 31 shots (11 on target!) and only managed two goals. After Ilkay Gundogan scored their second, pulling the Catalans within one, Lamine Yamal delivered a cross to an unmarked Lewandowski. The Polish striker completely fluffed his chance, shouldering his attempt wide.

Following Lewandowski's miss, Girona went up the other end and scored their fourth.

Girona played the better football and were more clinical than Barcelona. Had Barcelona converted any of their chances before Girona got their third, or fourth, the outcome of the game might have been different and perhaps favored the home side.

Oriol Romeu sentenced

It didn't take long for people to try to make a connection between how things are going for two players. One started the match and the other remained on the bench.

Those two players were Oriol Romeu and Eric Garcia.

Garcia didn't put in a foot wrong during the game and some of those mistakes he was prone to make during his time with Barcelona were non-existent, and seem to have been, with Girona.

On the other side of the coin, Oriol Romeu was supposed to be the stop gap until Barcelona could find a younger replacement for Sergio Busquets. Romeu had a decent start to the season but his performances have been left wanting and has seemingly lost the confidence of Xavi Hernandez.

In a game where Barcelona could have done with a holding midfielder, someone to disrupt play and have a better read on the game to help out the defense, Romeu was nowhere to be seen.

If there was any more evidence needed to prove Romeu has been a failed signing, and will likely be gone come the end of the season, last night was it. If Romeu cannot be trusted in important matches, then he is surplus to requirements.

The question then becomes how much fault lays on Romeu for his poor form this season.

What Romeu is going through now is what Garcia went through last season. The doubts about whether he was good enough were loud and it's because of that he wanted to leave and go to Girona. A place where he could feel important and start fresh.

It's because of Romeu's season with Girona that Barcelona chose to sign him. They believed he would transition quickly to Barcelona's style of play as what they wanted to do resembled the style Girona played.

The glaring difference for both of them now compared to last season is quite clear; the manager. In Michel, Girona have a clear idea of their identity and are executing it. The other, in Xavi Hernandez, have an idea of what style they want to play but are far from being able to execute it.

Romeu's future at Barcelona is murky at best with talks already that he could be heading back to Girona next season. If he does and returns to form, the reason as to why he was unable to replicate that in Barcelona will become quite clear.