Xavi spoke about the injury situation of Kounde, the late winner, his team’s overall performance, and Laporta’s reaction in his post-match press conference after a 1-0 win against Valencia.
Xavi on Barca’s performance against Valencia:
“We were better than Valencia and we deserved that win. We are very happy with 3 points. I appreciate everyone’s commitment. We played with a bit of anxiety today. I think we were affected by Wednesday.”
Xavi on the injury-time winner:
“With the bad dynamic we’ve been having this season when Lewandowski scored, my first thought was: They’ll disallow it. I will celebrate every win here.”
Xavi on Kounde’s injury situation:
“Koundé has strong discomfort, but it doesn’t look like an injury.”
Xavi on the approach of Valencia:
“We had analyzed Valencia, and we expected them to press higher up the pitch than they did. Today they were not as offensive, but generally, I like Gattuso’s approach, it’s an exciting team. Alejandro Balde was the free man today. Valencia were leaving him free.”
Xavi on the win against Valencia:
“It was not an excellent match by any means. Let’s forget the result and focus on what we did well and what we did wrong. The team deserved it. It gives us confidence and morale.”
Xavi on Jordi Alba:
“Jordi Alba has played very well. The captains are very committed.”
Xavi on his team’s overall improvement:
I think that in the 11 months I have been here, the team has improved a lot. We have to play much better, and take better decisions. When you don’t win, everybody’s alarm goes off. This is Barcelona.”
Xavi on Pique’s substitution:
“Piqué was not wearing boots nor shin guards because he didn’t expect to come on. No time to warm up, either.”
Xavi on Laporta’s reaction after the win:
“The president is very happy with the result, we needed to win. Laporta told me that these three points are very important and that goals in the last minutes are crucial.”
That concluded Xavi’s post-match press conference.
