Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti backs Xavi to turn things around at Barcelona

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has backed Xavi to turn things around at Barcelona amid the Catalan side's recent slump.

The LaLiga champions have fallen to fourth in the table, four points behind Real Madrid in first place, after dropping points in three of their last five matches in all competitions, with pressure starting to mount on Xavi.

The Catalan outfit were beaten 2-1 by their Spanish rivals in last month's El Clasico, before suffering a shock 1-0 defeat by Shakhtar in the Champions League. They also required a last minute own goal to help them rescue a point against Rayo Vallecano at the weekend.

While his side have fallen off the pace in recent weeks, Ancelotti believes Xavi has the required experience to galvanise his team and turn their mixed form around.

'Xavi, like me, knows football very well, and there is criticism,' Acelotti said in a press conference.

'Sometimes it can happen, but Xavi has the experience to manage all this. He knows the atmosphere [around Barcelona] and I think he has everything he needs to manage the situation.'

After their disappointing draw to Rayo on Sunday, Xavi issued a rallying cry to his team, claiming his side were not at the right level.

He told reporters after the match: 'I'm very critical of the players, in the videos, in the talks. We have to demand a lot of ourselves.

'We are not at the level we were a month and a half or two months ago.

'We have to push harder, recover our intensity, our winning mentality. We have shown that. Now we've dropped a bit.

'We have to be more humble, more generous, more compact. And starting on Tuesday.'