The Barça coach continues to be self-critical of his team’s play in Anoeta
The objective tomorrow is to qualify but playing well and recovering good football
Xavi Hernández, despite the agonizing victory in Anoeta, was very critical of his team’s play. He is clear that Barça must improve if they want to win important things this season and he hopes that the match against Shakhtar Donetsk, in which they can seal qualification for the round of 16, will serve as a turning point.
“We missed a lot, but due to the intensity that Real put in more than us. We must have more control of the game, press higher, with more intensity. The positive points are that we had faith, courage. The first half was not acceptable, but despite not being good, we reduced points to Real and Atlético. I hope this match is a turning point. We have to recover our identity in tomorrow’s match because it is essential to win the matches,” explained Xavi in the press conference prior to tomorrow’s Champions League match, in which a victory like the one achieved in San Sebastián is not worth it. “Tomorrow’s goal is not to win like the other day, but there are also days when you deserve more and you don’t get it, like in the classic. The objective is to recover the game from that match. The goal is to play well and win“.
To improve the game it is vital to recover from injuries, although according to Xavi it has also been gained through absences. “It should help us improve, they were vital players for the team. Their absence has been noted, but we have been playing the games as best we could. And playing well against Sevilla, Athletic, 60 minutes against Shakthar and in the classic.”
Until the end
One of the positive factors of his team that Xavi highlights is that he goes to the end: “The mentality has been very good since we arrived. There is faith, courage, attitude and that is why we go to the end, I think we are the team that scores the most goals in the last minutes. That says that we are physically well and that we have a winning team.“.
Xavi believes that tomorrow “we cannot let qualification slip away. It is in our hands. It is the first objective. The second will be to be first in the group.” And repeating again that playing well: “We want to play excellent football and win by a landslide, but this does not happen in every game. We must look for consistency, continuity and demand more from ourselves. This is the formula for each match, but it won’t happen because there is always a rival“.