Xavi Explains What Led To Barcelona’s Demise Against Real Madrid. Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez believes his team paid a heavy price for missing out on key opportunities during Real Madrid’s rout on Wednesday.
Barcelona was eliminated from the Copa del Rey semifinals after the second-leg loss. With a 1-0 aggregate advantage, they had a good start to the game. Yet, by the time the game was through, they had been completely destroyed.
Vinicius Junior gave Real Madrid the lead in the opening frame but Karim Benzema sent Barcelona home with an incredible hat-trick in the second half.
“It is a difficult night to digest. This is football,” Xavi told Movistar+.
“You have to compete better. We competed well until 1-0. They are moments that we have to stop. We could have also stopped the 2-0 moment. In short, they are details that we have to control.
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“In the first half we were very good, but that’s what I said: football is about moments and we didn’t take advantage of them.
“When football is so even, you have to take advantage of the moments. We didn’t do it in the first half and they did in the second. They have been superior, no excuses.”
Xavi added: “When you don’t kill Madrid, they kill you.”
Barcelona will now focus on Monday’s Catalan derby against Girona in LaLiga.