The 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid on Sunday night all but ended Barcelona’s slim hopes of retaining the La Liga title as the result meant they are now 11 points behind the leaders.
It was a game that was tightly contested but ultimately dictated by a few controversial calls made by the match official in the form of a penalty for Real Madrid and Lamine Yamal’s goal being disallowed in the first half.
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez was far from happy with the officiating on the night and made sure to get his message across during the post-match presser, calling what happened at the Bernabeu an ‘injustice’.
“This is shameful. Injustice,” Xavi started off, echoing what Marc-Andre ter Stegen had said.
“This was unfair. It is very clear. Everyone saw it. I repeat, it was a huge injustice today,” he added later in the press conference.
“My feeling today is one of maximum injustice, everyone has seen it. This is evidence.”
“We were better than Real Madrid. We deserved the three points,” the Barcelona manager added.
“Everyone saw that we were better. Imagine when these 17-18 year olds are 20. In the future there will be success.”
Taking a dig at the referee’s performance, Xavi added: “Yesterday I said that I hoped we wouldn’t be speaking about the referee, that would have meant that he did a good job.”
“I will not talk about the referee. Everyone saw, if I speak, they would punish me. The pictures are in front of you,” he remarked.
“The referee didn’t get a single decision right.”
“Today the referee neither made the right decisions nor did it go unnoticed. It’s the only thing I asked for yesterday at a press conference.”
Xavi has been voicing his concerns over the referees since the first day of the season and pointed it out again, saying:
“Since the beginning of the season in Getafe, I said that I do not like what is happening and that everything is hurting us, and today was the end of this story. Well, I’m proud of the team.”
Lamenting the absence of the goalline technology in La Liga, he added: “It’s a shame that La Liga has no goalline technology.
“The league that we consider to be the best league in the world does not have goalline technology! Everyone saw it, the ball went in!”
On the performance of his team, Xavi stressed that they were the better team on the night, saying: “We have to tell the fans that we deserved to win and were better than Real Madrid.”
Dissecting the display, he added: “In defence, we have been good and they have generated little danger for us. In the first half, we didn’t press like we normally do but in the second half we adjusted it.
“The second half was excellent with high pressure. After the second goal, we needed to be calmer. I’m proud of the team, but it’s a heavy loss…”
“I’m proud of the team. It’s hard to digest this,” he stressed.
Admitting that winning the La Liga was extremely hard now, Xavi acknowledged: “There are six games left and the season ahead. Winning La Liga is very difficult but we want to be second to play in the Super Cup.”
