Xavi spoke about the draw against Espanyol, Mateu Laho’s rash decisions and losing control of the game, Jordi Alba’s 2nd yellow card, Ansu Fati’s performance, and his team’s overall performance in his post-match press conference.
Xavi on the draw against Espanyol:
“The result is our fault. We can talk about the referee but the mistakes are ours, when you forgive so much and are ineffective, these things can happen, these are games you have to win.”
Xavi on finishing the year as League Leaders:
“It was important to finish the year with a positive result, it’s true that we are still leaders in the league, alongside Real Madrid, but we lost two points because of us.”
Xavi on Mateu Lahoz losing control of the game:
“Today, Lahoz lost control of the game. The game got out of control. Lahoz is a referee who takes decisions calmly but today he was out of control, but I don’t blame him for anything.”
Xavi on the hug Lahoz gave him:
“He told me he was happy to see me, I told him I was also happy. At the end of the match, I told Lahoz that he had lost control. He replied ‘Do you think I’ve lost control?'”
Xavi on the referee’s harsh decisions:
“You ask me about the referee and I can’t control him, he should come out and talk about his decisions. If Lahoz was speaking at the press conference right now, I would ask him why the game got out of control.”
Xavi on Jordi Alba’s 2nd yellow card:
“Jordi Alba told me that he didn’t say anything to Lahoz before he gave him the second yellow card.”
Xavi on not being effective in front of the goal:
“We created chances until the 30th minute when we dropped off the pace and intensity. Looking at the game we should have won, Espanyol defended well but hardly generated anything, we had clear chances to make it 2-0.”
Xavi on the dressing room’s situation after the draw:
“The players follow me, if I didn’t feel that way I would go home. Today we are all angry with ourselves, you leave angry because the result is unfair for what you have done, but this is football.”
Xavi on Ansu Fati’s performance:
“Ansu looks great, he has played because he is training very well, and he has made a tremendous change in terms of defensive work. He has lacked the effectiveness that the team has also lacked, but I see him growing very well.”
