Xavi backs Barcelona superstar after 2-1 win over Osasuna: “He gave us the last four points”

Barcelona continued their winning momentum in La Liga thanks to a 2-1 win over CA Osasuna last night.

Robert Lewandowski scored a late winner through a penalty, in an otherwise hard-fought game for the Catalans.

Naturally, Xavi talked about Barcelona’s lack of efficiency and aggression during the post-match presser.

“We lacked patience and we needed to create more chances. We worked and had to fight a lot to win this match. We suffered,” Xavi said.

“We dominated the match in many moments, but we needed to be more aggressive. It’s clear that we have to take a step forward in our game,” he added.

The Barcelona coach even referenced the last game against Villarreal, adding, “We were excellent in the second half against Villarreal, that’s how we have to play. We must demand more from ourselves. We have to dominate and create more chances.”

However, Xavi believes Barcelona did deserve to win despite the lack of sheer dominance against Osasuna.

“I think that we struggled too much, but we deserved to win. The players had the character to make this possible. Playing at this stadium is always difficult,” he said.

“Defensively, Osasuna were extraordinary. We need to generate more chances when we’re in control,” he added, praising the opponents on the night.

A key highlight of the game was the late penalty from Lewandowski. But Xavi believes critics are being too harsh on the Pole, who had a poor preseason campaign.

“Sometimes we’re too harsh on Robert. He gave us the last four points we’ve won. We’ve been talking about a new role for him, where he doesn’t touch the ball as much. How can you say he’s in a bad moment when he’s scored twice in the last two matches?” he said.

Apart from Lewandowski’s goal, another key highlight was the appearance of Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo – two deadline day signs.

Speaking of Cancelo, who had a solid debut, Xavi said, “Cancelo needs to join the midfield in attack, I told him to do that before he came on. He will give us numerical superiority in midfield.”

The Barcelona coach went on to speak about Felix, adding, “I think we can play Joao Felix as a striker or on the left. His attitude was great today.”

Finally, Xavi praised the referees for officiating the game extremely well. The performance was an outlier of sorts given how unfortunate Barcelona have been so far this season.

“The referees were a 10/10, especially the fourth one. He communicated what was happening and calmed us down. What Lewandowski said, the referees must communicate their decisions,” Xavi said.

Source: BarçaTV+