Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres were involved in a fight over who should take a penalty for FC … [+]
FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has slammed his side for not knowing how to kill games and tackled a penalty kick between Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres after a 1-0 win over Valencia at Camp Nou on Sunday.
Barca extended their lead to 10 points at the top of La Liga before title-chase rivals Real Madrid faced Real Betis in the late-night game in Spain.
Going forward through a 15th-minute header from Raphinha, however, the Catalans worked without Pedri, Gavi, Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski while Xavi has also been unable to carry his charges since. the canoe due to a suspension picked up last week. defeat against Almeria.
A red card from Ronald Araujo also complicated matters, but Xavi still thought his side should have put the game to bed earlier. Instead, they were forced to struggle with 10 men and keep visitors at bay.
“It’s a shame because we could talk about comfortable victories. But the lack of efficiency makes us suffer. We have a lot of injuries. It’s time to suffer and that makes us grow,” Xavi said in his after interview. -match, while also saying that his team “must learn to kill the match”.
After a handball into the box saw a penalty awarded to the hosts, there was a clear argument between Torres and Fati over who should take the kick which Torres eventually guffawed and hit the post with.
Xavi tried to defuse the feud by explaining that there is “an order that we communicate to the players”.
“[Franck] Kessie came in [the match], who could also take it. But on the list was Ferran. We decided among the staff. We try to guide them and I think we are growing since we arrived. We have a winning character and we have to continue like this,” demanded Xavi.
When it was pointed out that Raphinha encouraged Ansu to take the penalty, Xavi said: “It’s okay. You have to have personality and the desire to take penalties. But we decide and we have an order.”
As for how he witnessed the game, Xavi said there were even more “nerves” watching the action from the stands.
“From above you can see it better, but we suffered too much. We should have scored a second earlier. The penalty, the shot that hit the post [by Fati]… And with Ronald being sent off, we suffered more,” Xavi concluded on this.