Xavi talks Pique, de Jong, Ferran, Eric, Christensen, referee after Osasuna 1-2 Barcelona

Barcelona will go into the World Cup break as the leaders of La Liga after they secured a hard-fought 2-1 win over Osasuna at El Sadar on Tuesday night.

The hosts took the lead just six minutes into the game and things were made even harder for Barça when Robert Lewandowski was sent off around the half-hour mark. Gerard Pique, who was on the bench, was also shown a red card at half-time for arguing with the referee.

With ten men on the pitch, the Blaugrana mounted a comeback in the second period as Pedri equalised in the 48th minute before Raphinha scored the winner with five minutes left to be played.

The victory ensures that Barça will hold on to the top spot heading into the World Cup break, and Xavi was happy with how the team fought together after being in a difficult situation on the night.

On the result: “An amazing win in all respects. We told them at half-time to have faith and intelligence. We controlled the game well, defended well, barely conceded any clear chances until the end and we knew how to make the most of our moments.

“This is a very important victory thanks to faith and courage. It was so complicated, and I’m so proud of the team today.”

On the team mentality: “I think the team is growing, the dressing room is amazing and we are a family. The players really wanted to win.”

On the refereeing decisions: “The goal was a mistake. The sending-off represents the match. Very unfair decisions for us but the referee decides and we can’t say anything.”

“We heard there was foul in the build-up to Osasuna’s first goal, the bookings affected us and we are not happy with that, but we managed to overcome it. I am very proud of the team.”

On whether Gerard Pique would have played: “Of course, Pique would have played. We knew Christensen was in discomfort and I was going to substitute him.”

On the comeback victory: “Everything was against us today. It was a match that you think you have lost or will get a draw out of at the maximum and then you end up winning it. That shows we have faith and great character. It is a golden victory for us.”

“Today and also in the last match that was at home, we showed a lot of maturity. Today we proved that we can also defend and fight. We talked in the break that we have to play with faith and character. It’s a victory for all of us as a team, I’m so proud.”

On Pique, Eric Garcia, and Chadi Riad: “I would have counted on him today, but in the end, Chadi Riad played. Eric still feels unwell. He forced himself to be here, but he wasn’t feeling a 100%. We felt wronged and we felt hurt and we watched Gerard’s reaction.”

On Andreas Christensen: “Christensen is fine.”

On the message at half-time: “I told the guys at half-time that we’re going to have our moments, that we can’t push too much forward because we’ll have one man less, that we had to put ourselves in a 4-4-1 game and that they had to have confidence.”

On Ferran Torres: “He is important and I trust him. Today he was a winger and then turned into a striker. He moves well in spaces, is hardworking, humble, and has a lot of confidence in himself. I believe in him.”

On Frenkie de Jong: “De Jong can adapt well as a defender because he can take the ball out very well and today we wanted to press and score the second goal even though we knew that a draw might not be a bad result because we were playing with ten men.”

On Luis Enrique: “Luis Enrique is a great coach, I love him, he does a great job. I take this opportunity to wish La Roja good luck for the World Cup.”

On the team’s fightback: “Everything went against us today, the refereeing decisions, the goal we conceded from a corner kick, playing with ten men was very difficult. But we were smart and made good use of our moments, we were efficient and decisive.”

On the refereeing decisions: “They told me Marcos Alonso was fouled on the goal kick and Lewandowski’s sending-off as harsh in my opinion, it was a very tough decision. My opinion does not matter, but the opinion of the referee does, who will not speak again today.”

Source: BarçaTV+

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