After his team overcame a goal behind to defeat Alavés 2-1 on Sunday at the Olympic Stadium, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández claimed that the team’s negative atmosphere had an impact on their play.
Before Alavés’ arrival, Barça had dropped their previous three games. After just 17 seconds, Samu Omorodion gave Alavés an unexpected lead, and Xavi’s team appeared to be getting worse when home fans jeered Barca off the field at halftime.
The victory did nothing to relieve the burden on Xavi’s struggling club, however, Robert Lewandowski scored twice in the second half to keep Barça within four points of La Liga leaders Girona.
“We started on the back foot,” Xavi said in his post-match news conference. “[Ilkay] Gündogan lost a ball he would not normally lose and there is a transition. We can’t allow these mistakes. It
“We started on the back foot,” Xavi said in his post-match news conference. “[Ilkay] Gündogan lost a ball he would not normally lose and there is a transition. We can’t allow these mistakes. It is unacceptable.
“We are gifting teams too many things. We have dropped points at Mallorca, Granada… We are giving too much away and it’s generating an insecurity among the players that is not good.
“At half-time, I told them to stay calm and that if we played our football, we would come back. The players were more tense than normal because of everything being generated around the team. And it is not fair.
“It is not fair because there have been injuries and players coming back. We have to be self-critical as well, but it’s normal that we don’t see the players at their best because they don’t feel liberated.”
“We started on the back foot,” Xavi said in his post-match news conference. “[Ilkay] Gündogan lost a ball he would not normally lose and there is a transition. We can’t allow these mistakes. It is unacceptable.
“We are gifting teams too many things. We have dropped points at Mallorca, Granada… We are giving too much away and it’s generating an insecurity among the players that is not good.
“At half-time, I told them to stay calm and that if we played our football, we would come back. The players were more tense than normal because of everything being generated around the team. And it is not fair.
“It is not fair because there have been injuries and players coming back. We have to be self-critical as well, but it’s normal that we don’t see the players at their best because they don’t feel liberated.”
Barça has faced harsh criticism in the media following their midweek losses to Shakhtar Donetsk, Real Madrid, and Real Sociedad. According to Xavi, that has particularly hurt the younger players.
“Without doubt what the media say affects how the team plays,” he added. “The [media] create situations and scenarios that, for me, are not real. And it affects, without any doubt, the team.
“It happened to me as a player and it’s happening to my players. There is a negativity which is not good or positive at all.
“Above all, it affects the youngest players. You see [Iñigo] Martínez, Lewandowski, [João] Cancelo and Gundogan, it does not affect them. But we have a lot of youngsters and we have to protect them and give them confidence.
“[The performances] are our fault, of course, but the youngsters feel a tension that a month ago didn’t exist. It is a difficult situation that we have to manage, but it’s hard, especially after conceding an early goal.”
Samu, an Atlético Madrid loanee at Alavés, ought to have added to his first goal. Before Barça made a comeback after the break, he squandered three more excellent opportunities in the first half.
Lewandowski leveled the score with a spectacular header from a cross by Jules Koundé, and after substitute Ferran Torres was fouled in the 78th minute, the Polish striker scored the winner from the penalty spot.
“I am sad,” Alavés coach Luis García said. “The key is the first half. We have to score two or three and not doing so changes the game. I am proud of the team, but we should have had a bigger lead at half.time.
“There is a big difference between the two sets of players and from there, individually, they can beat you. If you are not perfect in every aspect of the game, they beat you.”
