Barcelona Blog
Barcelona have received criticism despite winning the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid on Thursday. The Blaugrana achieved a clinical 1-0 victory in a match in which they took just four shots and recorded just 35 per cent of possession.
Xavi Hernandez responded to the criticism and stressed that beating a strong team like Real Madrid is not an easy task.
Xavi said in the press conference before Sunday’s match against Valencia: “Barcelona is the hardest club in the world. I defeated Real Madrid 1-0, and this is not convincing for them, and if the opposite had happened, it would have been a national holiday there.”
He added: “I said it last year, he gave me a hard time. In Barcelona you have to win and convince, and that’s our goal. But the opponent is the champion of the league and the Champions League, and if they press you hard, it will be difficult.”
He continued, “It is a matter of understanding football. Talking about possession when they are playing one-on-one is absurd. We didn’t go in the area to be in a low area, we put Real Madrid [in this case]. This is football.”
Xavi continued to analyze the derby match and admitted that Barcelona failed to follow his plan due to Real Madrid’s pressure: “Real Madrid pressured to impose its match on us. We wanted to have the ball for a long time and we didn’t get it. There are times when matches against big opponents can wear you down.”
And he added, “We are looking for possession for 60, 70 and 80 minutes. But opponents also play and they can control you. We also play defensively without the ball, and we were exceptional, but that’s not what we want. We want to create chances with possession of the ball, as we did in the Spanish Super Cup.”
Xavi also mentioned that Barcelona succeeded in snatching victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite the absence of many key players: “Barcelona is the toughest club in the world, there is no doubt about that. You have to win and convince. There’s a very clear idea of performance and if you don’t do that, you’re unsatisfactory.”
He also added: “We won on difficult ground. But I felt more satisfied on the day of the Super Cup than in the Copa del Rey. I like winning by controlling, but that’s football.”
And he ended: “Winning without Pedri, Andreas [Christensen], Ousmane [Dembele] … We won without them at a stadium like the Santiago Bernabeu. Despite the absences, we won on difficult ground.”
Source: Marca
