Barcelona opened up a three-point lead at the top of the La Liga table after they defeated rivals Atletico Madrid 1-0 at the Civitas Metropolitano on Sunday night.
An early goal from Ousmane Dembele was enough for Xavi Hernandez & co. to return with three very important points. It was a much-needed win after the disappointing draw against RCD Espanyol in the previous week.
And with Real Madrid having dropped points against Villarreal, it was crucial that Barça capitalise on the slip-up from the champions, which they did.
Following the victory, Xavi spoke to the media discussing the outcome of the game and the performances of his players on the night against Atleti.
On the performance: “We played well in the first 30 minutes. We controlled the match.”
On the defensive trio of Kounde, Araujo and Christensen: “Today we had three defenders that are great coming out with the ball.”
On what the result means: “These three points give us tremendous morale and confidence in what lies ahead. We knew how to suffer and we won three golden points. We’re candidates to win the league title.”
On changing the formations: “When you change the system, sometimes footballers lose their place and don’t feel completely comfortable. In some instances, we played a 3-4-3, which worked well at the beginning, but ended up costing us.”
On the absence of Robert Lewandowski: “It’s important to know how to win without Lewandowski.”
On the display after half-time: “We struggled in the second half. We knew that it was going to be a tough match, but the most important thing is that we won the three points.”
On substitutions: “I quickly made the substitutions because I saw that some players were tired and we were suffering.”
On whether he is happy with the performance: “I’m quite satisfied with the match as a whole. The idea was to dominate the match, but we suffered in the second half. You can’t always play excellent.”
On what he thinks of Araujo: “He’s extraordinary, just like Andreas, Balde, and Jules.”
On what he thinks the team needs to improve: “We struggled to find Balde in behind. We lacked depth, and had to lower our intensity. We played with Ter Stegen way too much.”
“We have to improve our overall game. We need more alternatives for when we are pressured high of the pitch.”
On winning without Lewandowski and Jordi Alba: “We had important players out, but we pulled through. They made us suffer, especially in the second half, but I leave the stadium satisfied.”
On not killing off the match: “We had the feeling that they could have scored at any moment, but we also had a chance to score a second goal. You can’t always control the match, but we did well because we knew how to suffer.”
On Barcelona’s style: “My first commandment is to keep the ball, and I suffer when we don’t. However, when you have a rival of this quality in front of you, you can’t always expect to completely dominate them. They did very well with and without the ball.”
“Sometimes, we choose the ‘correct’ pass, but not always the best one.”
On Andreas Christensen’s impact: “Surely the signing of Christensen has been the less highlighted, but he has been extraordinary. I remember when people said that Real Madrid signed Chelsea’s starting centre-back and we signed the substitute.”
No comments:
Post a Comment