Xavi spoke about the game against Atletico, being dominated by the rivals, switching the system, the extraordinary performance from the defensive line, Christensen, and substitutions during the game in his post-match press conference after the 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid.
Xavi on the game against Atletico:
“We played well in the first 30 minutes. We controlled the match. These three points give us tremendous morale and confidence in what lies ahead. They made us suffer, especially in the second half, but I leave the stadium satisfied.”
Xavi on switching the system:
“When you change the system, sometimes footballers lose their place and don’t feel completely comfortable. In some instances, we played a 3-4-3, which worked well at the beginning, but ended up costing us.”
Xavi on winning the 3 points:
“I’m quite satisfied with the match as a whole. We struggled in the second half. We knew that it was going to be a tough match, but the most important thing is that we won the three points. We knew how to suffer and we won three golden points. We’re candidates to win the league title.”
Xavi on his substitutions:
“I quickly made the substitutions because I saw that some players were tired and we were suffering. We have to improve our overall game. We need more alternatives for when we are pressured high of the pitch.”
Xavi on being dominated by Atletico Madrid:
“The idea was to dominate the match, but we suffered in the second half. You can’t always play excellently. We struggled to find Balde in behind. We lacked depth and had to lower our intensity. We played with Ter Stegen way too much.”
“We had the feeling that they could have scored at any moment, but we also had a chance to score a second goal. You can’t always control the match, but we did well because we knew how to suffer.”
Xavi on Ronald Araujo:
“Ronald Araujo is extraordinary, just like Andreas, Balde, and Jules. Today we had three defenders that are great coming out with the ball.”
Xavi on the absense of Lewandowski:
“It’s important to know how to win without Lewandowski.”
Xavi on Christensen:
“Surely the signing of Christensen has been the less highlighted, but he has been extraordinary. I remember when people said that Real Madrid signed Chelsea’s starting center back and we signed the substitute.”
Xavi on his gameplan against Atletico Madrid:
“My first commandment is to keep the ball, and I suffer when we don’t. However, when you have a rival of this quality in front of you, you can’t always expect to completely dominate them. They did very well with and without the ball.”
