Barcelona manager Xavi has expressed his discontent towards Joao Felix’s disallowed goal against Granada after it emerged that Ferran Torres, who was crossing the line, had interfered with the game.
With the score tied, 2-2, Barcelona made a final rush towards the goal and in the 94th minute, Felix appeared to have done the job but the celebrations were eventually cut short after Torres’ attempted jump to head the ball from an offside position was deemed interference.
“Felix’s goal ruled out? It seems that Ferran interferes in the play, but we don’t know with whom. Who is he interfering with? It’s not clear to me,” the manager was quoted by AS.
“Just as the referee can rule out Felix’s goal, he can also give it. I think Torres doesn’t interfere, whether Ferran jumps or not, the ball goes to the same place.
“[It’s] a shame that the final goal was disallowed because otherwise, we would be talking about a good comeback,” he added.
Analysis of the game
Xavi decided to go with Ilkay Gundogan as his pivot while Fermin Lopez and Gavi accompanied him in the midfield. As a result, Oriol Romeu was kept on the bench but in the second period, when he was brought on, the Blaugrana seemed to have changed their shape.
“We were very good with Gundogan in the pivot position, and then Romeu was very good. We changed the system a little in the second half, with a four-diamond tactic in the midfield, in order to destabilize the opponent, and I think it went well. We deserved to win,” he explained.
The manager added that his team dominated the fixture despite conceding two early goals. Furthermore, he also said that coming back from 0-2 down is an achievement in itself.
“We totally dominated the game, we created chances. We deserved more, but we also paid for our mistakes. We can’t go out on the pitch like that. We created plenty of chances to win the match and take the three points.”
The manager also accepted that the way his team conceded early goals was simply unacceptable, saying: “We can’t go on the pitch like that and concede after 20 seconds. This cannot happen.”
“We knew that Bryan is like a bullet, he is a football player who is not easy to stop, we knew that. He scored a brace today.”
How are Lamine Yamal and Jules Kounde?
Centre-back Jules Kounde was taken off a few minutes before half-time after sustaining what seemed to be a knee injury. However, the manager said that he was fine.
At the same time, Lamine Yamal, who scored the first goal for his team on the night, appeared to have facing some minor discomfort as well.
“Looks like it’s ok. Lamine has some discomfort. From Jules, it seems that his knock is not serious. But the test is tomorrow. Lamine noticed a discomfort and asked for the change,” said the manager.
Lastly, the manager also said that he is very happy that Lamine got a goal against Granada.
“I am very happy about that historic goal from Lamine, he was very good today.
“They gave me confidence when I was 17 or 18 years old, and when we see a footballer like that we have to put him in. It’s a shame that his goal didn’t give us the win but I think he made a difference,” he said.
