Real Madrid ran riot over their bitter Spanish La Liga rivals, Barcelona, and manager Xavi has downplayed the heaviness of the defeat, preferring to say it was not important to win the cup game.
Barca were shambolic in their display as they were downed by Los Blancos on Wednesday night at Camp Nou – but Xavi says the Copa del Rey is not as important as the La Liga championship.
Madrid overturned a 1-0 deficit at Camp Nou, courtesy of a Karim Benzema hat-trick and a Vinicius Jr. goal, to knock out Barcelona from the Copa del Rey.
After three consecutive El Clasico wins, the 4-0 defeat was a tough pill to swallow for Xavi, who insisted La Liga is more important than the cup competition.
“We have to focus on La Liga now, which is a more important competition than the Copa del Rey. We have 11 finals left in the league,” he stated.
https://twitter.com/fcbarcelona_br/status/1643746674655764480
The former midfielder also rued that his team failed to capitalise on their moments in the opening half and the absence of several first-team players, including Ousmane Dembele, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, and Andreas Christensen, did not help the cause either.
“This is Madrid. In the first half, they didn’t dominate the match, and we created much more but they scored the first goal. We know it. It’s how they won the Champions League last year. It’s not an excuse, but I really would have liked to count on the injured players,” he added.
Meanwhile, Barca defender Ronald Araujo, who had a tough time against Vinicius Jr., also echoed the thoughts of his manager and claimed that their primary target is to win the league after a gap of four years.
“It’s a tough defeat, but I am sure that this won’t affect us a lot. Our most important goal is to win La Liga, after so much time,” he stated.
After the demolition, many fans are now calling for the return of Lionel Messi and the club’s vice president Rafa Yuste recently reaffirmed their love for Lionel Messi who is heavily linked with a departure from Paris St. Germain.
“No one can question the love that he receives here in Barcelona. He’s the best in history,” said Yuste per The Mirror.
“Leo and his family know the affection I have for them. I participated in the negotiations which unfortunately did not lead to a certain result.
“I’ve always had and I have this thorn in my side that Leo couldn’t continue at our club. Messi knows how much we appreciate him. I would love for him to come back. We’re in contact, of course, with them.”
Main Image: Real Madrid/Twitter
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