Xavi Hernandez laid into his FC Barcelona players following another 4-2 loss to Girona in Montilivi … [+]
Xavi Hernandez laid into his FC Barcelona players following another 4-2 loss to Girona on Saturday.
Barca twice took the lead in the Catalan derby battle for second place, yet silly mistakes which Xavi put down to immaturity resulted in a catastrophic defeat which guaranteed Champions League football for the hosts in Montilivi and the La Liga title for bitter rivals Real Madrid.
“The truth is that we lost control of the match because of flagrant mistakes that cannot be. It keeps happening to us,” Xavi said following the full time whistle.
“We had the game [in our hands] to put to bed and we gave it away. It’s a carbon copy of the Madrid game, [and] the other Girona one.
“We have to change a lot to compete next year. Today I am sad and disappointed. We’ve seen both sides of the coin. Brilliant until the 60th minute, then it’s the summary of the season: the lack of effectiveness kills us.
“We lacked forcefulness and being more effective, then [made] blatant mistakes that don’t correspond to the level of the players and the club. Any blow costs us a lot. I have the feeling that we give games away. It’s very difficult to compete like that. But it’s part of the immaturity of many footballers. I’m very sad and disappointed,” Xavi reiterated.
Xavi said that “one-off errors” cost Barca. “We’ve given the players all the confidence, but it’s very difficult like that. It’s also a lack of maturity. I hope to compete better next year, because it’s practically impossible that way. They don’t show it on the scoreboard when we’re superior, we had the two games against Real Madrid and Girona under control, and they got away from us”.
Despite this latest setback, and his team being at real risk of now losing second place which brings automatic qualification to the Spanish Super Cup, Xavi insisted that “we have to keep going”.
“We have to continue, I’ve experienced it many times at this club unfortunately. For 65 minutes, we were brilliant. We have to improve our mental and psychological state. We want second place and next season we have to change a lot of things to compete better,” he once more repeated.
