“They did not deserve to lose”: Xavi gives ruthless judgement after Villarreal vs Barcelona

Xavi Hernandez spoke to the media after his team’s 3-1 victory over Villarreal. The game was filled with controversies, but the Blaugrana came out on top after a gruelling battle. Xavi spoke about the performance, referees and players like Jordi Alba.

The manager first acknowledged that his team were lucky on the night. The performance was below par, and Xavi openly accepted it.

“It has cost us a lot. We have dominated less than I expected, but we have been fortunate with Memphis’ goal. These are three golden points for us.”

Villarreal were the better side on the night by some distance, creating loads of half-chances and nearly winning two penalties.

“We did not dominate as expected, we played against a great team. We were lucky, Villarreal did not deserve to lose.”

Several refereeing decisions on the night were questionable. However, the coach refused to comment on either the referees or VAR.

“I will not talk about the referees because it is a very difficult job. And there is the VAR. I am not here to judge because one day they will benefit you and another day they will harm you. I am not going to talk about it.”

Barcelona’s second goal came via a direct pass from Marc-Andre ter Stegen to Memphis Depay, bypassing the entire midfield. Xavi said it was no luck but something they had been working on.

“The second goal is a tactical action, which we trained on.”

It was well and truly a bizarre game, but the fact that Barcelona came out on top after an underwhelming showing makes you think about their changing fortunes. On most other days, under a different manager, even a draw would’ve been lucky.

“Today was a victory of spirit, which is so welcome. You also have to win when you don’t play well or don’t play so well. Today we played worse than the other day against Benfica, where we deserved to win and it didn’t happen.”

Ferran Torres’ possible signing has been the most talked about topic in Catalonia over the past two days. However, the manager refused to comment on it.

“It’s not the right time to talk about signings. It right after the game, which will give us a great boost of morale.”

Jordi Alba hopped off injured in the second half after playing through the pain for close to ten minutes prior to it. Xavi was all praise for the Spanish full-back.

“At the break it seemed like he couldn’t continue. He’s an example for everyone, he made a very important effort.”

Barcelona will host Real Betis next Saturday for La Liga matchday 16 with the chance of coming within touching distance of the UCL spots. A week’s rest will do this lot a bunch of good.

Source: BarçaTV+