Xavi: “Last year we got to the Clásico very badly and finished 0-4”

Despite not completing a great game, Barça has won the three points in the last league match against Celta before the classic on October 16.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
09 October 2022 Sunday 16:34
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Xavi: “Last year we got to the Clásico very badly and finished 0-4”

Despite not completing a great game, Barça has won the three points in the last league match against Celta before the classic on October 16. Xavi Hernández has acknowledged that the team has gone from better to worse, but he positively values ​​having managed to win: "It's important to win even when you're not fine", he assured after the match.

The Terrassa coach has valued the team's play in the first few minutes of play, but he regretted that they had lowered the intensity: “It's a shame because we started the game very well and it would have changed if we had made it 2-0. We have not done it and then we have suffered with Celta's chances at the end. It's normal, Celta is a very uncomfortable rival”. “We have to be more consistent. When we lower the intensity, rivals like Celta are very uncomfortable and we have suffered”, he acknowledged.

“We have to be more like the team from the first half hour of the match, that was really good”, assures a Xavi who is left with “the intensity of the first half and the chances generated” by the team in the first minutes of the game. game, although he admits that the load of minutes also weighs, due to the number of games played, the state of mind and the numerous casualties that the team has chained.

For Xavi it ​​is "an important victory" despite acknowledging that they are not at their best: "We have to be self-critical. We are not in the best moment, but we are getting the games. There is a lot of equality both in the League and in Europe, but you also win by suffering”.

Asked about how he sees his team ahead of the Clásico against Real Madrid on his visit to the Bernabeu next week, Xavi recalled that the team was worse last year and scored goals against the Whites. “We savored the 3 points, we are still leaders and the classic is unpredictable. Last year we got to the Clásico very badly and finished 0-4. We'll try to compete and show character, that's for sure”, promised the Barça coach.

Regarding the presence of Marcos Alonso in the eleven, instead of Eric Garcia, Xavi has recognized that it is due to physical problems: "Éric García came with some very minor discomfort and we preferred that Marcos Alonso play, even if it is not his position".

The Barça coach has also been asked about the possible penalty against Raphina: "He told me it was very clear, we had to calm him down at half-time", he acknowledged, although he immediately added that tonight is no excuse: " Today is not about referees. We should have scored the second and come out with more intensity and it hasn't been like that”.

Raphinha himself has explained to the press that he had "the feeling" that they touched him and that is why he went to the ground and, along the same lines as his coach, he has assured that "In some games it is normal to suffer". “On the other side we had a quality team with eleven players who wanted to win. We have to know how to suffer to always get the three points”, he assured. In addition, he has praised the performance of Ter Stegen, the savior today against Celta: “He is a great goalkeeper and once again he has saved us from a draw. It's important to have a goalkeeper of such quality and confidence to defend all the balls that come his way”.

One of the eleven's newcomers, Marcos Alonso, also spoke after the game, admitting that he had never before played with three left-backs as Xavi Hernández arranged today to face Celta. The footballer has recognized that they have not been as comfortable as they would have liked: "We suffered a little more at the end, but the important thing was the 3 points".

"It was difficult to have the ball, we have to improve on that, we can't grant so many chances when you have the game under control", he acknowledged before highlighting the importance of the next Champions League match: "We played it all against Inter, so now we are going to rest and prepare for the match”, he concluded.