Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez laments ‘mistakes that can’t be allowed at the top level of football’
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ByEurosport
Updated 13/10/2022 at 06:39 GMT
Barcelona are potentially on the cusp of a crisis after a 3-3 draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday. Barcelona will need Inter to drop points to have any chance of making it through, with the Catalan club needing to make it through for financial reasons. Xavi Hernandez admitted afterwards that the team made too many mistakes in the game.
'I'm angry and upset' - Xavi reacts as Barcelona's draw with Inter jeopardises progression
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez has said that his team made “serious mistakes” that “can’t be allowed at the top level of football” after the team’s 3-3 draw with Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Having led 1-0 Barcelona found themselves down 2-1 and 3-2 before Robert Lewandowski’s late header rescued a draw for the team.
The result means that Barcelona have to win both of their last two matches and hope that Inter Milan drop points twice to have a chance of making it through to the last 16.
"This Champions League is being cruel to us...” Xavi said after the game. “But in the second half we made a lot of mistakes. The first goal was a clear mistake by the defensive line, and we [within the dressing room] had talked about it.
"Football is a game of mistakes and it's about minimizing them, today we have made very serious mistakes that have cost us.
"People saw that we played with our heart, but we can't fail. In Munich it was our effectiveness, in Milan it was other circumstances and today it was our mistakes. The Champions League is very complicated, we have to change our mindset for La Liga.
"We have to think about El Clásico, the Champions League has become complicated. It's a shame.”
The manager later added in his press conference that "If you don't beat Inter at home, you don't deserve to stay in this competition.
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Inter Milan's Argentinian forward Lautaro Martinez celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the UEFA Champions League 1st round, group C, football match between FC Barcelona and Inter Milan at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on October 12, 2022.
Image credit: Getty Images
"The first half was excellent, but the second half was not, we made a lot of mistakes. There are mistakes that can't be allowed at the top level of football."
He also said: "When the players fail, I take full responsibility."
As Xavi alluded to the tough run is not over for Barcelona as they travel to the Spanish capital on Sunday to face Real Madrid in El Clasico.
The two rivals are level on points at the top of La Liga and after the result against Inter the league becomes even more important for Barca.
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