Xavi has admitted he is ‘still upset’ with Barcelona’s 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League due to how good his side’s performance was on the night.
La Blaugrana more than held their own for the majority of their Group C clash with Bayern at the Allianz Stadium, with two goals in the space of four second half minutes ultimately proving the difference between the two sides.
Speaking to the press ahead of Barca’s meeting with Elche at Camp Nou on Saturday, Xavi admitted that he is still lamenting the midweek defeat.
“I’m still upset because when you look at the game and how we played, we need to win that game. It’s a shame. What we did in their stadium was to pick up the three points, not even a draw.
“When you look at what we missed, efficiency, it came down to details. Football is decided on details. We must learn from these mistakes. I’m still upset about it but that’s it.”
The Barcelona manager also spoke at length about his use of Ansu Fati so far this season. Fati has largely been limited to cameos off of the bench during the 2022/23 campaign to date, and Xavi has admitted that this is because of the young forward’s unfortunate injury record over the last few seasons.
He added: “We have a plan with him with a lot of precaution. We want to make sure he’s feeling good. We are taking things little by little. It’s perhaps my fault the way we are managing him. He’s making a difference.
“He’s a very important player for us. His intensity and rhythm, maybe he needs to increase that a little. It’s a difficult situation to handle. The way we want to play, we need players to be 100% fit, but he’s doing things well.
“Sometimes he will play, something not. For better or worse it’s my decision. But I’ve decided that I need to take a lot of precaution and be prudent with him. I’m not going to do things quickly. We want to be cautious. It has nothing to do with physical or mental aspects. We have a specific plan.”
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