Getty Xavi Hernandez against Inter.
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez admitted forward Ousmane Dembele needs to improve his decision-making after seeing his team held to a 3-3 by draw by Inter in the Champions League on Wednesday.
It’s a damaging result for the Catalans and means they will fail to qualify for the knockout stages if Inter beat Viktoria Plzen in their next group game. The Czech side have lost all four matches so far, conceding 16 goals along the way.
Xavi spoke about his side’s struggles after the match and admitted his team’s decision-making, and Dembele’s in particular, needs to improve going forwards, as reported by ESPN.
“I agree we need to make better decisions,” he said. “And not just Ousmane, when we get into final third, we all have to make better decisions, It’s about footballing maturity. Gavi and Pedri are very young, but they make quite good decisions. Ousmane struggled more. I have a lot of confidence in Ousmane, but sometimes he chooses badly. He stretches the pitch, he’s fast and we have a lot of confidence in him.”
Dembele scored the opening goal of the match at the Camp Nou, but Inter then went ahead through strikes from Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez. Robert Lewandowski then scored twice and Robin Gooses was also on target in a frantic finish to the match.
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Xavi Left ‘Sad, Disappointed & Angry’
Xavi also admitted he was feeling a whole host of emotions after the draw. Barcelona now looked destined to play in the Europa League for a second straight season despite a summer of big-spending at the Camp Nou.
The Barcelona boss feels his team have improved on last year but believes mistakes are the reason why they are exiting Europe’s top competition early again in 2022-23.
“I am really disappointed, sad and a little angry as well. Last season, the feeling was that we were not good enough, but this time it has been down to mistakes. We had the games in our hands and we let it escape, in Munich above all, but also against Inter tonight. We have to be self-critical, too, it has been down to our mistakes,” he said. “Last year, maybe we weren’t good enough, we weren’t at the required level. This way it hurts more.”
Barcelona’s next group game is against Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou. The Bavarians have already qualified for the last 16, and Barca’s exit could be confirmed before kick-off as Inter face Viktoria Plzen before the match is due to start.
Champions League ‘Cruel’ on Barcelona
Xavi also felt the Champions League has been “cruel” to Barcelona. The Catalans were drawn in a tough group alongside Bayern, Inter and Plzen and were left enraged by some controversial refereeing decisions in the 1-0 defeat to the Nerazzurri at the San Siro.
The Catalans were also left ruing their inability to take their chances against Bayern. Xavi’s side impressed in the first half at the Allianz Arena but came undone in the second half and were beaten 2-0.
“The Champions League is being cruel to us this season. Against Bayern Munich, we were not clinical enough. There were other circumstances in Milan last week, but there is no need to talk about [those refereeing decisions], and then tonight it is down to defensive mistakes.” he said. “Our chances of going through our very remote now. We won’t lose hope, but the situation is really difficult. We no longer depend on ourselves and it is down to our own errors.”
Barcelona face another crucial fixture next. The Catalans head to the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, October 16 for the small matter of a Clasico clash against Real Madrid in La Liga.
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