JAKARTA - Barcelona coach, Xavi Hernandez admits his team deserved to lose to Real Madrid in the El Clasico match. He said his team could not take advantage of important moments that should have been goals.
The Blaugrana suffered a 1-3 defeat in the ninth week of La Liga Spain 2022/2023 at home to Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Sunday night.
The result made Barca have to be willing to release the top of the standings to their arch-enemy. Xavi's team went down to second place with a collection of 22 points, three points adrift of Real in the top position.
"We didn't take advantage of our important moments and Madrid did. Nothing went well for us and we had to change that," Xavi said.
Madrid opened the scoring over Barca when the game had only been running for 12 minutes. Karim Benzema recorded his name on the scoreboard after using Vinicius Jr's throwing ball.
Federico Valverde then doubled his lead 23 minutes later. The Uruguayan international broke into the opponent's goal with a hard shot from outside the penalty box after receiving Ferland Mendy's pass.
Ferran Torres had reduced the position seven minutes before normal time for the match was over after maximizing Robert Lewandowski's pass, but Rodrygo Goes scored a penalty in injury time to ensure Madrid could get three points.
"We're facing a great team and you have to know what you're doing and we're not in the best shape," said the 42-year-old coach.
This is Barcelona's first defeat on the La Liga stage from nine matches that have been played. In the previous eight matches, the Catalan team won seven times and drew once.
As for the win over Barca, Madrid maintain their unbeaten record. The details they have won eight wins and one draw.
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