“I can’t be happy. Almost nothing has come of it.” That’s how forceful coach Xavi Hernández was after the defeat suffered by Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu and which made him lose the leadership, now in the hands of eternal rival, Real Madrid. Xavi was dejected with the result. Touched. He knows that his team is not going through its best moment. “Clearly we are in a bad dynamic, we have to change it as soon as possible. Luckily there are only three points, misfortune happened to us on Wednesday because there is no more margin in the Champions League,” he added.
The coach, who also likes to try to find positive notes, had a hard time uncovering his optimism at the Santiago Bernabeu. “It’s time to do a lot of self-criticism. It was a very good opportunity to continue leading and we’re leaving empty, we’ve had chances to equalize but we haven’t taken advantage of our moments. The first goal can’t happen. “I am very disappointed and very sad. The League is very long but all this does not console me. Without playing a great game we have been able to achieve 1-1 and 2-2 but if you do not get it right at the Bernabeu… the conclusion is that we are in a bad dynamic and it must be changed as soon as possible”.
Xavi, always determined to explain sports concepts, ruled out that the players are to blame. “I explain what happens, what we failed at. But I don’t point the finger at the players. I am the captain of this ship. , it will never happen, I am the captain of the ship. The ‘we have already talked about it’ is to explain what has happened, it is my mistake of not transmitting better “
Amid so much pessimism, the coach thanked the players who appeared in the second half for their attitude and their desire to compete. Among them Ansu Fati, Gavi and Ferran Torres. “I can’t be happy with almost nothing, the feeling is very bad. But I do want to say that those who came out in the second half came out with intensity, with aggressiveness. But if we want to win games and titles, we have to change our mentality. We lack self-love.”
In his list of pending accounts, Xavi pointed out that beyond the mentality “we have to mature through blows. We have to improve forcefulness and aggressiveness. We had talked about stopping the counters and in the first they marked us. In the second goal lack of communication. They are mistakes that take their toll. We have to be more competitive and be more effective to get more things out of this type of game”.
