Very happy, Xavi appeared before the media after Barça's triumph against Athletic to assess the effort of his team. "We have played a very complete game, everyone has been very supportive and has been very committed", he congratulated himself.
Regarding the changes in the eleven, with the presence of four midfielders, the Barça coach gave his reasons: "We wanted one more man in the center of the field because we had to try to find superiority inside, a task to which Pedri has contributed a lot. We knew that They were going to push high but we matched their intensity and that was the key."
Dembélé was the protagonist of the match with a goal and three assists, and Xavi had praise for the Frenchman, although shared by his teammates. "He has made the difference, everything has come out expensive. Dembelé has that, that he plays it: there are days when he is thicker and others when he is stellar. And today he has been stellar. But all the forwards are fine and that is an advantage for the team, competition is always welcome", settled the egarense.
His colleague on the other side, Ernesto Valverde, made no excuses for the Barça victory. "It is evidence that we have not been close to winning. Barça has been strong and has punished us in the arrivals they have had, scoring three goals in ten minutes. Above all, the second one has killed us a bit, I have the feeling that my team has suffered", confessed the rojiblanco coach.
Valverde had no qualms about admitting that Barça's approach, with four starting midfielders, caught him off guard: "Yes, I was surprised, that Pedri started attacking on the left has thrown us off a bit, but we haven't lost only for that".
For his part, captain Sergio Busquets welcomed the reaction of the Barça team after losing the classic. "It was a difficult week and we started it badly, losing against Real Madrid, but I think we've recovered well and we've played two good games", commented the Badia player after the duel against Athletic.
Finally, Busquets commented on the keys to the victory against Valverde's team: "We came out very strong because we knew that Athletic is an intense team, and we were successful in ten minutes, which gave us peace of mind for the rest of the match" .
