Xavi: “It's a spectacular victory; of faith and courage”

Not even the controversy of the two key moves in the first half could dampen Xavi Hernández's joy after winning, with ten, at El Sadar so that Barcelona went to the seven-week break for the World Cup as leader.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
08 November 2022 Tuesday 17:32
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Xavi: “It's a spectacular victory; of faith and courage”

Not even the controversy of the two key moves in the first half could dampen Xavi Hernández's joy after winning, with ten, at El Sadar so that Barcelona went to the seven-week break for the World Cup as leader. "It's a spectacular victory", declared the Barça coach.

“We have taken it out with faith and personality”, condensed the technician. “We had everything against us, because of how we conceded the goal and because we stayed with ten an hour. And the team has overcome it”, insisted a Xavi “very proud of his team”, which he defined as a family.

"We have celebrated it a lot in the locker room because it is a victory of faith and courage," he discovered. "A golden triumph," she cataloged.

The egarense revealed part of his talk at the break. “In the second half we told them to have faith, that we could dominate the match. And we have done well. We have had patience and we have taken advantage of our moment”

At the most controversial moment, Xavi was also booked by Gil Manzano. “We have felt prejudiced by the arbitration decisions”, he complained. “They have told us that it is a foul on the first goal. It's a clear foul on the block. It's not even a corner”, he pointed out about Unai García's push to Marcos Alonso.

Then the red came to Lewandowski, who left Barça with ten an hour. “The expulsion for me is very rigorous. But the referee is not going to speak and we have to settle. I think I would have to give explanations”, he said about the referee from Extremadura.

In the second part, Barcelona knew how to recompose itself in the face of adversity. “We have been supportive, generous and everyone has worked as a block. We have defended well and we have taken advantage of the chances, with effectiveness”, he applauded. “It is one of the games that we have shown the most maturity. We are leading the World Cup break, which was what we wanted. Last year we came here and we couldn't win. The team is growing."

Lastly, Xavi explained the sequence with Piqué, substitute and expelled for protesting, and pointed out that this altered his plans. "They sent him off at halftime as a result of the tension," he apologized. “Piqué would have participated. It was the first substitution because Christensen lacked a bit of rhythm and he couldn't play the whole match, and Eric had discomfort. In the end, Chadi (Riyadh) had to leave”