DBasia.news – The draw that was achieved by Barcelona when they traveled to Granada headquarters has made Xavi Hernandez as the coach, disappointed. He openly criticized the performance of his team.
In the continued 2021-2022 LaLiga match at Los Carmenes, Sunday (9/1) morning WIB, Barcelona and Granada drew 1-1. These results made Barcelona fail to penetrate the top four.
Barcelona actually performed quite well in this match. After dominating the match, the visitors broke the deadlock in the 57th minute through Luuk de Jong’s header using Dani Alves’ bait.
In the rest of the match, Barcelona tried to increase the advantage. But they actually had to play with ten players since the 79th minute as Gavi received a second yellow card.
Granada also had the momentum to rise. The hosts were finally able to equalize through Antonio Puertas’ goal just one minute before normal time ended.
“It’s a shame, but it’s our fault. The red card weakened us, but we lost because of mistakes and lack of experience,” Xavi said after the game.
“We lost 2 very important points. It’s down to us, not the opponent and we lost the ball ridiculously.”
Granada’s reply goal should not have happened if Barcelona’s defense had been more disciplined when facing corner kick situations. Puertas stood unmarked when he received a wild ball in the penalty box and fired freely.
“We couldn’t go home happy after that. We were angry and had to be self-critical,” he added.
Refusing to Blame Gavi
Interestingly, Xavi is reluctant to blame Gavi for this draw. Even though the 17-year-old player’s red card changed the direction of the match.
Xavi’s gesture is understandable as Gavi is only 17 years old. The burden of being a mainstay of Barcelona is too big for a player of his age.
“Experience and knowledge comes through the game. We couldn’t ask for more from Gavi,” continued Xavi.
“He’s a player who gave us a lot and his red card weakened us, of course.”