Head coach of FC Barcelona Xavi Hernandez criticized his team for their “unacceptable” performance at Real Sociedad on Saturday, saying they didn’t deserve to win.
In Anoeta, the Blaugrana finally secured a much-needed three points, but for the most part, they appeared to be heading towards a draw that would have left them six points behind La Liga leaders Girona.
However, defender Ronald Araujo entered the box deep into injury time and headed home Ilkay Gundogan’s inch-perfect cross over the La Real defense, enough to steal a 1-0 victory.
In an interview conducted after the game, Xavi said that his team had moved past “the anger we had from El Clasico.”
Last weekend at the Montjuic Stadium, Barca appeared to be the better team for a good hour against Real Madrid, but Gundogan’s early goal was cancelled out by a double from Jude Bellingham, condemning the Catalans to their first loss of the year.
“It was the opposite today. We pulled off a huge win,” Xavi declared, before pointing out that his team hadn’t performed well.
We truly need to be critical of ourselves today. He emphasized, “We didn’t deserve to win.
Xavi then stated that Saturday’s performance “is an example of exactly the opposite of what we have to do on the pitch” during his press conference.
“But for champions, it’s equally important to win without having earned it.”
In an attempt to explain the sluggish performance, Xavi said, “It seems like El Clasico affected us more than I thought.”
“This match’s first 25 minutes are completely unacceptable,” he said. “The first half lacked intensity on our part. I’m really irritated. This is not how things should go.”
Xavi disclosed that he asked his players if they were tired at halftime because they were playing with a lack of intensity, which he repeatedly called “completely unacceptable.”
Regardless of the cause of the performance, Barca prevailed to maintain pressure on Girona and Real Madrid, who take on Rayo Vallecano late on Sunday night.
Barca now has to get ready for their Champions League matchup with Shakhtar Donetsk in Hamburg on Tuesday. If they haven’t already, the players will undoubtedly receive a reprimand in training from their manager.
Sanderson, Tom
After spending six years in São Paulo, I moved to Barcelona in 2019 andhave written extensively about these subjects through previews and…
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