Xavi’s new look Barcelona side faced their biggest test of the season so far on Tuesday night, coming up against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. The German club ended up winning 2-0. However, the Barca manager was visibly annoyed during his post-match interview, claiming his side let Bayern off the hook.
Speaking to UEFA, via Movistar TV, Xavi claimed: “I’m p***** off. I’m p***** off. I don’t like to lose – and we didn’t deserve it. I think we were better, we dominated them. We made six or seven big goal chances but missed them and Bayern took their opportunity.
“We competed, we played very well and had we scored it would have been a completely different match. This is the Champions League though, you need to compete and you try to avoid the marking error at the corner which let them go 1-0 up.
“No way should our rival be allowed to score from a failure of marking at a corner when we have the match under control. Or to score down the middle on a counter attack. We must learn from these mistakes. We can’t let them off the hook so much.
“I’m leaving here pretty hacked off because this was a night to win. But I’m also feeling proud of the team. However, it’s about winning and we’ll need to compete better in crucial moments like the two goals and to be more effective when we create chances.” Barcelona dominated large chunks of the game. Xavi’s side created better chances, took more shots and retained more possession than their opposition. The Bavarian giants, however, looked lethal on the counter attack as it was evident that Julian Nagelsmann set them up to be quick on the break. This came as a surprise to many given the fixture was played at the Allianz Arena, and that Barca have an abysmal record against the German side in recent years, losing 16-2 on aggregate over the last four meetings.
Despite last night’s result, Barca can take many positives away from their performance. The Catalans created many clear-cut chances in front of goal. But the pressure of the occasion must’ve got to Robert Lewandowski, who Bayern were eager to get revenge over, as the striker had a rare off day in front of goal, missing a host of chances we’ve become used to seeing him bury. Barcelona will be looking for vengeance in the return fixture on October 26th, as the Catalan Club aim to dismantle Bayern’s stranglehold over Group C. However, Barca’s next test in the UCL comes in the form of Serie A giants, Inter. Both clubs will be looking to strengthen their chances of progressing through to the knockout stages of the UCL by picking up their second win of the competition’s group stage.