FC Barcelona conceded three goals in the Clasico and once again failed to convince against a renowned team. Xavi’s statements after the 1:3 were worthy of discussion
You can always do worse. That’s what Xavi may well have thought when he stepped in front of the DAZN microphone after losing the Clasico. “The misfortune was on Wednesday, today it’s only three points,” said the Barça coach.
Only three points? There’s a bit more to the Clasico than that. For the Catalans, it was a chance to make amends after the disappointing 3-3 draw against Inter, which is probably synonymous with “relegation” to the Europa League. It was the chance to show that this new Barcelona is capable of beating a “big one”. The Xavi eleven had lost 0:2 at FC Bayern, 0:1 at Inter, the 3:3 in the second leg was a perceived defeat. And now a 1:3 in the Clasico. What is a 5:1 against Pilsen or a 4:0 in Cadiz worth?
For Xavi, though, the recent setbacks are just a phase. “I feel like we are in a negative dynamic, that nothing is going our way, that we have self-respect and try until the end,” But that’s just football, the Barça coach continued.
But it was precisely this self-respect that some people denied Barcelona. The local newspaper “Sport” even wrote of a “Barcelona made of porcelain and without a soul”, which had presented itself as “incompetent” at the Bernabeu. This was true of the defence, although Xavi had made two changes to the back four with Koundé and Balde. The former, at least, proved to be a reinforcement, while Eric Garcia, on the other hand, continued to make mistakes, as he had done against Inter, including carelessly conceding the penalty that made the score 1:3.
Koundé did not address that scene, but he did address the other two. “On the first goal we have to commit a foul and prevent the counter-attack, and on the second goal it’s the same,” said the Frenchman, also taking Sergio Busquets to task, who just failed to decisively round Toni Kroos before the first goal, even if he tried.
“We had talked about stopping counter-attacks and in the first minutes they caught us 1-0 up,” said Xavi, who went on to try to tie a nice bow around the deserved defeat. “We dominated, we had Madrid under control without playing great, we had our moments,” said the 42-year-old, who was celebrated during the game with chants of “Xavi, quedate” (“Stay, Xavi”) – by Real fans.
Laporta storms referee’s dressing room
Maybe there really would have been more in it if referee Sanchez Martinez had decided on a penalty for Barcelona (Carvajal against Lewandowski) in the 75th minute. As was noted in the match report, this was also why Barça president Joan Laporta stormed the referee’s booth after the match and “repeatedly asked for explanations about certain situations during the match. In light of these events, he was asked to leave the referee’s booth without further incident.”
But penalties and some chances or not, Xavi’s analysis is a contentious one. Although Barça had 57 per cent possession at the Bernabeu, after the 2-0 Real also largely switched to administrative mode until conceding in the 83rd minute and let the often creativityless Catalans come. Especially in the first 30 minutes, the Blaugrana often had no answer to the pressing of the royals, ball loss after ball loss was the result.
Barcelona actually generated pressure and ideas after the substitution of Ansu Fati, whom the Barça coach only brought on in the 73rd minute for the pale Ousmane Dembelé. Why he didn’t do it earlier is just one question Xavi has to put up with.
