Barça achieved a hard-fought victory (4-2) against a Valencia that advanced thanks to two errors by the Blaugrana and that played with ten players throughout the second half due to the expulsion of goalkeeper Mamardashvili. Three points that allow the Blaugrana to raise their heads after being eliminated from the Champions League and practically saying goodbye to the League title after losing at the Bernabéu.
“Specific errors have made us fall behind. Valencia has been more aggressive, more uncomfortable. Today the set pieces have paid off for us. The team has been good, but we lacked calm, moving the ball from one side to the other In general, we saw a good Barça, but we have to improve that pause and calmness. It’s what the game asked for. We should have generated many more chances against ten,” Xavi Hernández analyzed the victory.
The game went uphill for the Blaugrana with an error by Ter Stegen and a rough penalty by Araújo that meant the two Valencian goals. “More than winning the duel, we must win the second ball. We have an organization, but in the rejections there is a point of fortune. They have generated four or five very clear chances for us,” explained the Barça coach about the defensive concessions.
After meeting with the president, Joan Laporta, the Egarense decided to continue on the Barça bench despite having said months ago that he was leaving at the end of the season. Against Valencia he enjoyed the first victory of his renewed stage as culé coach. “This is very simple. In January I felt responsible. I thought it was better to take a step aside. But over the months I have noticed the confidence of the president and the footballers. Barça is very emotional, the culés and the Catalans are like that. “Sometimes it doesn’t go well, and other times we all destroy it,” he reiterated about the process that has led him to rectify his decision.
Next day Barça will face a key duel against Girona in the fight for second place, “a great game” for Xavi with two teams looking for “the attack.” “I’m sure there will be a good show, like here in Montjuïc, although it was unfortunate for us because of the result,” he said about Barcelona’s defeat in the first round and the next duel in Montilivi.
Barça went ahead on the scoreboard with a header from Fermín, a player who “goes very well into space”, but the great architect of the victory was Robert Lewandowski who scored three goals. “The decision to leave was also for the players to take a step forward, to give a little more,” he explained about the improvement in the Pole’s scoring figures since he announced his departure at the end of the season, now rectified.
“There are only 16 goals, but if we have more opportunities it is easier for me. If the whole team plays well for me it is easier. We all win and we all work,” said Lewandowski, who also pointed out the Blaugrana’s problems. to create chances against Che: “We are Barça, we have to play more offensively. If we score more goals it is easier. We knew that in the second half we had to play faster, with patience, but without much touch. Quickly looking for free space “.
“It hasn’t been easy. In the first half we didn’t have space, but the most important thing is that we can score two or three goals. In the end three points and we can think about the next game against Girona,” the striker concluded about the victory. along the same lines as captain Sergi Roberto: “A very important victory considering where we come from.”
“Very happy for the continuity of
