“We leave with our heads held high because at least we have felt pride in competing,” said Xavi Hernández after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey by Athletic: “We can be proud, at least we have tried until final,” he stated.
The Blaugrana coach highlighted the difficulty of playing the tie away: “In a single match and on the opposite field it is difficult to win. We have tried and I think we have competed very well against a team that is very strong at home. "I already said on the day of the draw that we had not been lucky because a single match in San Mamés is very difficult."
Barça once again showed a lot of fragility by conceding in the first minutes. An aspect that for the Catalan coach is due to "lack of concentration and specific errors." “Football is a game of mistakes and this year we are not minimizing them,” he lamented.
Xavi also wanted to bring out the positive aspects of the duel, especially the good image shown by the youngest members of the team, of whom he said he was “proud.” He explained that Lamine Yamal, scorer of 1-2, was “disheartened” for having missed two clear chances: “He was discouraged for having missed it, but he created it. He is a 16-year-old boy,” he highlighted, also remembering Fort, Cubarsí or Guiu. “And there haven't been more because we haven't been able to get them in,” he said in reference to the regulation that limits the number of homegrown players that can be lined up at the same time.
"It is the beginning of something important, whether I am the coach or not. This Barça has a lot of future," he predicted.
After losing the opportunity to fight for a title, Xavi is now thinking about the competitions in which Barça is still alive: “Let's get back together before Saturday and compete in the League and the Champions League. I am calm knowing that there is still a season left. We have the most important titles left and we will fight for them,” he promised.
Ronald Araújo showed his face after the cup elimination: "It's sad to lose this match, we wanted to fight for this title but we played against a great rival, on their field that always pushes...". The Blaugrana footballer assured that his team showed its face, although he recognized the mistakes made against Athletic: “We competed, we had two losses, with a lot of young people, we showed character, but we needed to be more intelligent in that goal (the 3-2) because there was one minute left in the extra time.”
Araújo also referred to the young Lamine Yamal, author of the 1-2 scoreline, but also of missing two very clear chances that could have decided the game for the Catalans: “It's a shame that he missed, but we shouldn't blame him for anything. He ran, he faced… He is 16 years old, he is going to have many more in his career.”
Finally, he acknowledged that the elimination is “a hard blow,” but that the team “has to keep fighting.” “We have the Champions League and the League and we have to continue. “We are going to fight until the end for this shirt,” he promised.
