Xavi Hernandez, coach of Barcelona’s first Spanish football team, expressed his dissatisfaction with the team’s performance despite its 1-0 victory over Real Madrid, Thursday, in the first leg of the King’s Cup semi-final, indicating that he still believes that Real Madrid is the most likely candidate to win. in confrontation.
Barcelona settled yesterday’s match with a single goal in the 26th minute, which Real Madrid player Eder Militao accidentally scored in his team’s goal.
The meeting between the two rivals will be renewed at the “Camp Nou” stadium, the stronghold of Barcelona, on March 19, in the Spanish League competitions, and then they will meet in the second leg before the cup final at Barcelona Stadium, on the fifth of next April.
Real Madrid had the most possession of the ball during the match, and its players scored 13 shots on goal, but the royals did not succeed in scoring, and Barcelona achieved victory through a single error from Militao.
Xavi expressed his happiness with the victory, but seemed keen to put pressure on Real Madrid again, by emphasizing that he was still the favorite to win the confrontation and qualify for the final of the Cup.
“We have a definite advantage, and we will have to compete strongly in the second leg,” Xavi told reporters after the match.
It’s positive, but I still see Real Madrid as the favourite.
Despite confirming his satisfaction with the defensive performance, Xavi expressed his concern about his team’s decline in controlling the ball, as he recorded an possession rate of only 35.3% during the match, and his players completed only 309 out of a total of 380 passes for the team.
Xavi said: “I am not satisfied. This is not the percentage that we seek. The result is very positive. I am happy with the work we did and the solid defense, as we confronted Real Madrid in the middle of its stadium, but the match was difficult.”
Xavi continued: «I am satisfied, but we have to improve our performance with the ball. We are not supposed to give the opponent dominance. I am satisfied with the result, but I am not very satisfied with the match.
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