January 9 News on January 9th, the 16th round of the 2022-23 La Liga season
, Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 away, Xavi said in an interview after the game: Barcelona did not play very well today, but we got a golden three-pointer.
About this game
Harvey: "This is a key victory, we got the golden three points, it is very important for the team to keep a clean sheet. Barcelona didn’t play very well today, we had too many back passes, which made the game change.
It was complicated and difficult. This victory means not only three points, but also a great boost to our morale. We won a difficult away game and I am proud of the team."
About Levan
Harvey: "It is very important to win this game without him. Lewandowski is a basic puzzle for Barcelona, but Ferran Torres did a good job today."
About the comparison between this game and the last round of Barcelona and Espanyol
Xavi: "Football is like this, sometimes you can win even if the team is not playing well. We played very well on the day of the Espanyol game, but we didn’t win. The important thing is that we got three points today.
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About Araujo
Xavi: "Araujo is an extraordinary defender, he has great leadership."
Questions about Barcelona’s game
Xavi: "We gave Ter Stegen too many back passes, you have to play forward and it was important to try to play in the opposition half. But I think we played a great game, especially in the
Defensively."
What did you tell the players at half-time?
Xavi: "I told them they have to control the ball more, it’s important to have the ball because that’s our philosophy of the game."
About replacing De Jong with Casey
Harvey: "Atletico Madrid put a lot of pressure on us at the time. It was a targeted tactical arrangement to replace Casey and Ferran Torres."
Talk about the significance of this victory for Barcelona
Xavi: "Can’t say we’ve won anything yet, but I’m happy, it was an important win, it gave us morale and now we have a (three-point) advantage over Real Madrid in the table and we’re on the way
Get rid of Atletico Madrid."