MADRID, 1 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The FC Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernández, has ensured that they have executed a “correct and dull” match but that they take “three very important points” (0-1) despite the fact that they have played “the match that RCD wanted” Mallorca, and has affirmed that Robert Lewandowski, this Saturday’s scorer, is “a guarantee of success”.
“Today we have been very good with patience, with calm. It is always difficult to attack a 5-4-1 system, you have to be very neat to play at first touch, attack spaces… It has cost us. In the first part we have been good in terms of pace, but in the second we have dropped; in the second we have played the game that Mallorca wanted, and we cannot allow that,” he said at a press conference.
In this sense, he appealed to be “more ambitious”. “It’s hard after the selections, due to the fatigue of the players. They (Mallorca) are very well organized, they play very direct, they center, and it’s always complicated. It’s a game in which if you don’t make it 0-2 it can get complicated Today’s victory is very important,” he said.
However, the Polish Robert Lewandowski has reappeared to unclog the Catalans. “He is a goalscorer, a ‘top’ player in the world and one of the best strikers in the world, if not the best. He is a guarantee of success,” he said.
“Once again he has marked the differences, but also the defensive line, the ball circulation. Perhaps you see Ter Stegen’s save more or Robert’s goal, which is a great goal, but there are other facets of the game that are key for us Everyone has joined. It was a correct match, without shining, but we took three very important points”, he added.
In another order of things, he downplayed the record for games without losing away from home (18) set this Saturday by his team. “The records, if they are not accompanied by titles, are of little use. They are an anecdote for us. It means that there is work behind and that we are on the right track, but no more,” he said.
As for the right back, the Catalan coach explained the reasons why he has opted to change sides to Alejandro Balde. “In the end we have opted for the most natural and logical. He is a footballer who already knows the position, with a changed leg. Sergi is coming from some discomfort and we have prepared not to risk it. The circulation has been good, winning duels, behind his back. The defensive line has been at a great level: Jordi Alba has been very good, Piqué has been very good, Andreas also on surveillance. We have conceded two chances”, he pointed out.
Nor did he rule out that Gerard Piqué, the starter this Saturday, repeat in the eleven in the ‘Champions’ against Inter Milan. “Everyone can be a starter. We have a guaranteed squad, very broad, and we are going to rotate. I have already told the active and passive players that competing every three days is very difficult. Everyone is going to be important and they are going to have minutes. It is important for us that everyone is prepared”, he affirmed, before assuring that Ansu Fati is “one hundred percent already”. “These two weeks have been very good for him. He has set out to be important and he will be, I have no doubt,” he concluded.